Manchester City responded to a hostile Anfield welcome with a 3-0 victory over Liverpool on Sunday, preserving their perfect Premier League start. Erling Haaland, Jérémy Doku and Rayan Cherki scored after halftime, while Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch was sent off for a second booking in the 62nd minute.
The match followed an independent commission’s finding that City breached Premier League financial rules across a nine-season period and violated most of the alleged cooperation requirements. Liverpool supporters greeted City with sustained boos, banners attacking the club and chants linked to the case, while visiting fans brought inflatable bananas and displayed support for chairman Khaldoon al-Mubarak.
Liverpool had the better early momentum after the interval. Lewis Koumas forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into a save, Gravenberch tested the goalkeeper from distance and Alexis Mac Allister curled a shot narrowly wide. Haaland then missed a one-on-one chance after Antoine Semenyo’s pass, but Liverpool’s pressure ended when Gravenberch fouled Doku as City launched a counterattack.
City needed only three minutes to exploit the numerical advantage. Doku’s movement helped create the opening for Haaland, who fired into the net in the 65th minute. Doku doubled the lead three minutes later with a curling finish, and Cherki completed the scoring in the 78th minute after a move involving Elliot Anderson and Josko Gvardiol. Liverpool’s first defeat of the season was compounded by injuries that kept Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak out of the match.
The result left City top with 18 points from six games and gave them consecutive league wins at Anfield for the first time since 1953. City’s next match is at home to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Wednesday, while the financial case remains unresolved because its separate sanction process and appeal are still pending.