Manchester City pushed aside worries about heavy penalties to beat 10-man Liverpool 3-0 in their first game since being found guilty of over 100 charges of breaching Premier League financial rules.
Goals in the second half from Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, and Rayan Cherki helped City maintain their perfect start under Enzo Maresca after Ryan Gravenberch got sent off for two yellow cards.
This win gives City back their three-point lead at the top of the table, but the future of their title fight depends on the outcome of their appeal against serious financial misconduct.
An independent commission discovered that City and their Emirati owners created “sham” deals to inflate revenues and lower costs by over £900 million ($1.2 billion) from 2009 to 2018.
No punishment has been given yet, but a heavy points deduction or even removal from the English Premier League may happen if City does not overturn the ruling.
There are also rumors that they could lose titles won during that time.
The multiple violations of Premier League rules happened while City won three titles and many other trophies.
However, City’s rivals believe that the illegal spending during this time helped create a successful era under former manager Pep Guardiola, who left at the end of last season.
Liverpool was one of the teams most affected, finishing second to City three times in the last 12 years.
“There are so many moments and memories we can’t get back,” Liverpool fan Martin Reilly, 23, told AFP. “They have to throw the book at them.”
City arrived with a police escort, expecting a hostile welcome at Anfield, but there was no repeat of the violent incidents when their team bus was attacked ahead of a Champions League game in 2018.
Liverpool fans lined the streets, chanting “cheats” and “going down,” while stalls sold flags and scarves mocking City's financial issues.
In the famous Kop end, a banner read “a generation of supporters cheated.”
The clashes between Guardiola’s City and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in recent years became the highlight of the Premier League.
But with the world watching, Liverpool could not rise to the occasion on the pitch.
New Liverpool manager Andoni Iraola had fewer options without the injured Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexander Isak, and Cody Gakpo, suffering his first loss since taking charge.
The home side showed some life at the start of the second half when Lewis Koumas was denied a goal on his first Premier League start by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
An Abu Dhabi-backed takeover in 2008 changed City from being an average team to the top force in English football.
City's financial power was clear as Maresca could bring on Jeremy Doku from the bench early in the second half.
Minutes later, Doku was brought down by Gravenberch, who received a tough second yellow card, and Liverpool never recovered.
Doku’s deflected shot was then smashed in by Haaland to break the deadlock 25 minutes from time and opened the floodgates.
Three minutes later, Doku curled a stunning shot into the top corner himself.
Cherki then combined with Josko Gvardiol before slotting under Alisson Becker to add to Liverpool's misery.
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