City put charges to one side with 3-0 win over ten-man Liverpool

Manchester City beat ten-man Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield in their first match since being found guilty of more than 100 breaches of Premier League financial rules.

Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki scored in the second half after Ryan Gravenberch was sent off for two yellow cards, extending City’s perfect start under Enzo Maresca and restoring their three-point lead at the top.

The result came with a cloud hanging over the champions.

An independent commission ruled that City and their Abu Dhabi based owners arranged sham deals to inflate revenue and cut costs by more than £900 million (± R19.6 billion) between 2009 and 2018, a period in which they won three titles.

No punishment has been set, but a heavy points deduction, expulsion or even retrospective title-stripping remain possible pending appeal.

Liverpool fans greeted City’s bus with chants of “cheats” and a banner in the Kop reading “a generation of supporters cheated.”

Liverpool threatened through Lewis Koumas on his first league start, with Victor Munoz and Gravenberch looking sharp in the initial phases too.

The game turned when the Dutch international was dismissed for a foul on Doku shortly after the hour mark.

Two minutes later, Haaland smashed home a deflected shot before Doku curled in a second and Cherki finished off a one-two with Josko Gvardiol.

Elsewhere on the weekend, Arsenal and Chelsea picked up vital wins against Leeds and Bournemouth respectively, while Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw by Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.