It is a soundtrack that Manchester City have heard before but never for such sustained spells during a match. It came from the Liverpool support, first ringing out around Anfield before kick-off and coming at regular intervals thereafter. It was always going to be like this as City felt their way into a new reality, one conditioned by the guilty verdicts handed to them by an independent commission on virtually all of the 115 charges they have faced for breaking the Premier League’s financial rules.
City maintain their innocence and have appealed. The Kop wanted to tell City what they are. And where they were going.
They wanted to tell them again and again. According to them, they are cheats, who are set to be relegated. It was not exactly a bear pit of an atmosphere; not truly intimidating.
It was just an outpouring of anger and it was impossible to ignore. They rolled with the invective. And after a slow-burn contest turned on a second yellow card for the Liverpool midfielder, Ryan Gravenberch, in the 62nd minute, City cut loose.
All that their players can do is try to blot out the noise. They did so here, running all over Liverpool’s 10 men to maintain their 100% start to the Premier League season. The key theme from them – and their fans – was defiance.
City intend to keep doing what they do. It was Erling Haaland, inevitably, who lashed them in front and Jérémy Doku, on as a game-changing substitute in the 56th minute, who curled them further ahead with a beauty. The best was still to come.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
