Boos, ‘cheat’ taunts greet Manchester City at Anfield

LIVERPOOL, England, Oct 11 - Manchester City arrived at Anfield on Sunday to find the fallout from their financial rules verdict waiting at the gates.

The league leaders arrived on Merseyside for their first game since an independent commission found them guilty of 114 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules, and Liverpool supporters had prepared a blunt welcome.

Fans drowned out the announcement of City's team with earsplitting boos and chants of "Going down, going down, going down!" in reference to a possible relegation sanction.

One banner read: "A Generation Of Supporters Cheated" while some fans held three balloons with the numbers 114.

Travelling City fans, meanwhile, held aloft inflatable bananas, a humorous tradition dating from their time out of the top flight in the 1980s.

Their club denies the charges.

Outside Liverpool's ground, souvenir stalls did brisk business in flags and T-shirts bearing the word: "CHEATS."

One flag depicted former City manager Pep Guardiola alongside players including Erling Haaland dressed in black-and-red prison stripes, with "CHEATS" splashed across their backs and prisoner number 114.

It was gallows humour with a football twist, and a sign that the repercussions of the ruling had quickly spilled from hearing rooms into the tribal theatre of the Premier League.

Merseyside police had been on high alert amid concerns City's team bus could be targeted after a social media post promoted a "Bus greeting."

But while Liverpool supporters lining Anfield Road held aloft flares and sang anti-City songs, the team took an alternate route to the stadium and arrived to few supporters.

In 2018, City's team bus was struck by bottles, cans and flares before a Champions League match at Anfield and was damaged badly enough that a replacement was required for the journey back to Manchester. REUTERS