Liverpool 0-3 Man City: Haaland, Doku and Cherki punish 10-man Reds at Anfield

Manchester City won 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday, scoring three times in the 16 minutes after Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch was sent off. Erling Haaland, Jérémy Doku and Rayan Cherki scored as Enzo Maresca's side made it six league wins from six and moved three points clear of Arsenal at the top.

It was City's first match since an independent commission found the club guilty on 114 charges relating to the Premier League's financial rules. City maintain their innocence and have appealed. The Kop greeted them with banners featuring the word "cheats"; the away end replied with inflatable bananas.

The red card that changed everything

For an hour there was little in it. Liverpool's Lewis Koumas, 21 and making his first league start up front, forced a save from Gianluigi Donnarumma straight after the restart, and Haaland dinked a fine chance from an Antoine Semenyo pass past the far post on the hour.

Then Gravenberch, booked early in the second half for a foul on Elliot Anderson, caught Doku as the City winger looked to start a counter-attack. Referee Chris Kavanagh showed a second yellow card in the 62nd minute. Two minutes and 37 seconds later, Haaland swept in a deflected Doku cross for 1-0.

Doku and a 41-pass finish

Doku, a 56th-minute substitute, curled in the second himself in the 68th minute. The third, in the 78th, came at the end of a 41-pass move, according to BBC Sport the longest build-up to a Premier League goal since Phil Foden's strike against Nottingham Forest in September 2023 (46 passes). Cherki dummied a pass from Anderson, collected a backheel from substitute Josko Gvardiol, cut away from Jeremie Frimpong and rolled the ball home.

Haaland's goal was his fifth of the league season, level with Chelsea's João Pedro at the top of the scoring chart.

Iraola: "never a yellow card"

It was Liverpool's first defeat under head coach Andoni Iraola, who was without Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak, all injured during the international break. He disputed the first booking. "I think the first foul of Ryan is never a yellow card, never," Iraola said. "And then you put, as a referee, yourself in trouble, and also you put us in trouble." Former Liverpool and City striker Daniel Sturridge, working for Sky Sports, agreed: "The first one is a joke."

"We played two different games: one until the red card, and one from the red card until the end," Iraola added. "I think we were the better team until the red card."

Maresca's record start

The sixth straight win means Maresca has equalled the best start to a managerial reign in Premier League history. "You cannot imagine how happy I am," the City head coach said. "I'm here to try and prepare games and to win games. Hopefully I can speak about this situation when we win the appeal."

City lead on 18 points, ahead of Arsenal (15) and Brighton (13). Liverpool stay on nine points in ninth place.