Liverpool was beaten 3-0 by Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday in a match overshadowed by City's guilty verdict on 114 Premier League financial rule breach charges
Manchester City's players celebrate on the pitch after the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield in Liverpool, north west England on October 11, 2026. Manchester City won the game 3-0. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. /
Manchester City's players celebrate after beating Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)
Andoni Iraola suffered his first defeat as Liverpool manager in devastating circumstances as his side, reduced to 10 men, crumbled to a 3-0 loss against Manchester City on Sunday.
Ryan Gravenberch's sending-off just after the hour mark proved to be the turning point on a tense afternoon, with goals from Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki continuing City's perfect start to the season - although whether it will hold any significance if and when the club is sanctioned remains to be seen.
Liverpool.com was present at Anfield on a day that will forever be associated with City's guilty verdict on 114 charges of breaching the Premier League's financial regulations between 2009 and 2018.
Journalists from the national press were also in attendance to offer their own considered perspectives. Here is how they assessed the afternoon's events at Anfield (via the Liverpool Echo).
The Daily Mirror's chief football correspondent John Cross wrote: "At the final whistle, even the Liverpool fans struggled to muster another chant. Eventually, the Kop began to sing: 'Going down, going down' as the Manchester City fans celebrated up the other end with their giant inflatable bananas.
"City just refused to follow the script. The anger was there. The atmosphere was furious, loud and red-hot. For so much of the day, the game was completely secondary.
"Millions tuned in on Sky to see how City would react. The fans inside Anfield tried to intimidate City as they chanted 'sham' and 'cheats'. They booed with every breath. It was exactly what we expected.
Liverpool fans hold up a banner
Liverpool fans displayed a number of banners(Image: Getty Images)
"But City rose above it all and produced a brilliant, defiant performance as they ultimately outclassed a ragged, injury-hit Liverpool who finished the game with ten men after Ryan Gravenberch's dismissal."
The Independent's Miguel Delaney writes: "Three brilliant finishes, and possibly the only ending this freak match was ever going to have. Manchester City again abrasively drive on amidst it all, absolutely revelling in a 3-0 win at Liverpool, but nobody knows what it will actually mean. Few, outside the City fans in the relished moments of celebration, even know what to feel.
"It does highlight the very absurdity of the situation, as the Abu Dhabi-owned club get to have this act of defiance, and the rest of the league gets even more furious about it all.
"City fans, for their part, also got to feel something 'real' after the uncertainty over the past two weeks. Liverpool, like everyone else, are waiting for a clarity that now seems essential for this very season.
Liverpool's players argue with referee Chris Kavanagh after Ryan Gravenberch's sending-off
Liverpool's players argue with referee Chris Kavanagh after Ryan Gravenberch's sending-off(Image: Getty Images)
"It was why the main impression from this game should not be regarding City's 'brilliance'. Really, after two weeks of build-up and debate about the Premier League 'brand', we saw the real damage. This immediately felt untenable.
"It only emphasises the need for this process to be concluded and - above all - why the sanctions should have been announced with the decision. That would also add more of an incentive for both sides on the appeals process. This is otherwise a farce for the Premier League, a bizarre unreality."
Martin Samuel, of The Times, reflects: "And some will say this was a meaningless match, because of the sword of Damocles that hangs over one club. Nonsense. A trophy will be won at the end of this season. Maybe not by City - we shall see - but by somebody.
"So results still matter, points still matter, and Liverpool now trail Arsenal by six of them. This was supposed to be the fixture that would put City in their place yet, if anything, they left Merseyside with renewed vigour. They fought the law and the law may win; but others may not be so lucky.
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"Gravenberch's dismissal made a difference, of course it did - it was goalless when he was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Jeremy Doku - but that is also not the only explanation for what followed. City's finishing was exceptional, their control total, their passing exquisite, once given the opportunity.
"They have bought well, too. It could be argued there were 114 reasons for that, but Florian Wirtz was three times the price of Rayan Cherki. Liverpool rejected Cherki and bought Wirtz, but who looks to have secured the better deal now? It's not always about money.
"Yet, if anything, they were almost too good on Sunday, reminding everyone where those 'sham' deals may have got them. Perched uncomfortably in the directors' box, City's executives may have secretly hoped their players reined it in a little."
Writing in the Daily Mail, Ian Herbert scribes: "Even on this day, Liverpool were exposed for the squad limitations which come of not having 'fantasy football' money, as Jurgen Klopp once described City's outlay.
Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester City at Anfield
Erling Haaland and Manchester City's players celebrate(Image: Getty)
"Briefly, Lewis Koumas almost conspired to script something excellent from the meaninglessness. The 21-year-old, socks around his ankles, was standing pretty much on the spot where Steven Gerrard's slip against Chelsea handed City the title, 12 years ago, when he raced to receive Bradley Barcola's pass and hit a fine rising drive. Some story it would have been, for a young Liverpudlian, as Gerrard looked on.
"But it was Erling Haaland, a player handed a £525,000-a-week, nine-year contract, 21 months ago, who scored instead. Jeremy Doku, a City substitute earning £180,000-a-week under the terms of his new deal, turned the screw.
"In those days of fair and honest combat, the scoreline would have sent the Anfield crowd away nursing anger and loathing. But those who drifted out on Sunday night seemed at a loss about an irrelevant footnote to a phantom rivalry and a City side who will probably not be here again for some time. There were no winners on this day."