- October 11, 2026
Clouded With Cheating Allegations, Manchester City Thrash Liverpool 3-0 At Anfield In Fiery Match
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Manchester City defeated 10-man Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield with goals from Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki to restore their three-point lead at the top of the PL.
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.
(AFP)
Manchester City continued their unbeaten start under Enzo Maresca with a commanding 3-0 victory over 10-man Liverpool at Anfield, as Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki scored in the second half. The win came in City’s first match since an independent commission found the club guilty of more than 100 breaches of Premier League financial regulations.
The result restored City’s three-point lead at the top of the table, but uncertainty continues to surround their long-term title ambitions as the club appeals against the findings. Potential sanctions include a significant points deduction or even expulsion from the English top flight, while retrospective action to strip titles has also been speculated about.
The commission found that City and their Emirati owners had arranged allegedly sham deals to inflate revenues and reduce costs by more than £900 million ($1.2 billion) between 2009 and 2018. The breaches occurred during a period in which City won three Premier League titles, laying the foundations for their success under former manager Pep Guardiola.
City’s financial controversy dominated the build-up to the clash, with Liverpool supporters greeting the visiting team with chants of “cheats” and “going down”. Flags and scarves mocking the club’s finances were also on display, while a banner at the Kop end read, “a generation of supporters cheated.”
Despite the hostile atmosphere, there was no repeat of the violent scenes that saw City’s team bus attacked ahead of a Champions League match in 2018.
On the pitch, Liverpool struggled to match their opponents, with manager Andoni Iraola missing several key players, including the injured Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo. The defeat was Iraola’s first since taking charge of the Reds.
Liverpool briefly threatened after the break when Lewis Koumas was denied a goal on his first Premier League start by Gianluigi Donnarumma. However, City’s introduction of Doku shifted the momentum.
The Belgian winger was brought down by Ryan Gravenberch, who received a rather soft second yellow card, leaving Liverpool with 10 men. City capitalised on their numerical advantage, with Haaland opening the scoring 25 minutes from time by converting a deflected Doku effort.
Doku then doubled the lead three minutes later with a superb curling strike into the top corner. Cherki completed the rout after exchanging a neat one-two with Josko Gvardiol before slotting the ball past Alisson Becker.
City’s financial case remains unresolved, with the outcome of their appeal potentially having major implications for the club’s achievements and future in English football. For now, Maresca’s side remain firmly in control of the title race.
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Ask News18Manchester City defeated Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield with second-half goals from Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku, and Rayan Cherki.
Ask News18October 11, 2026, 23:33 IST
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