Manchester City beat Liverpool 3-0 as financial-rules appeal remains unresolved

Manchester City beat Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday, 11 October, moving to the top of the Premier League while its appeal against an independent commission’s financial-rule findings remains unresolved. Erling Haaland, Jérémy Doku and Rayan Cherki scored after Liverpool midfielder Ryan Gravenberch was sent off. The win changed City’s position in the title race, but it did not settle the disciplinary case facing the club.

How Manchester City won at Anfield

City’s official match report says Gravenberch received a second yellow card before any of the three goals. Haaland, Doku and Cherki then scored in a result that gave City 18 points from six league games and a three-point lead over Arsenal, according to the club. Those match and table details come from City’s own account of the game.

Manager Enzo Maresca said the first half had been difficult and that adjustments at half-time improved City’s performance after the break. Haaland, in remarks quoted by the Guardian, said the team had shown character and needed to stay mentally strong and stick together. Their comments put the emphasis on how City responded during the match and to the attention surrounding the club.

Before the Liverpool game, Maresca urged his players to manage the surrounding ‘noise’ and concentrate on winning matches, the Guardian reported. The Associated Press separately reported that he expressed complete trust in City’s ownership and hierarchy, rejected the suggestion that the verdict tarnished the team’s success, and said players had to control what they could amid a serious situation. Those comments preceded the Anfield result.

What the Premier League commission found

The league’s summary says the commission found that commercial arrangements misrepresented agreements, misstated accounts and concealed the club’s finances. According to that summary, the arrangements inflated revenues and reduced costs by more than £900 million over the period examined. The figure and descriptions are attributed to the commission’s findings in the Premier League statement, rather than to an outcome of City’s appeal.

The Premier League says its investigation began in December 2018 and that the independent commission concluded a 42-day hearing in December 2024. That history helps explain why the Liverpool match took place amid a long-running case: the September announcement was a finding after years of investigation and hearings, while the remaining legal and disciplinary steps have yet to produce a published final outcome.

City’s appeal and the sanction still to be decided

The Premier League confirmed City’s appeal on 2 October and said the Appeal Board hearing would remain private and confidential until an outcome could be published. The Independent reported City’s position that the commission’s opinion contained material errors and was unsafe; the club maintained its innocence. The cited league updates do not establish an appeal hearing date or outcome.

A sanction is also outstanding. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said it would be decided in a separate hearing and that the league intended to move through the remaining process as quickly as possible. The league lists fines, points deductions and other sporting sanctions among the possibilities under its rules. That range describes possible outcomes, not a penalty imposed on City.

The Independent reported that the league had not detailed sanctions when City confirmed its appeal. Neither the appeal update nor the league’s earlier statement supplies a final penalty or a date for one. Until those decisions are published, City’s 3-0 win and its place at the top of the table can be stated as sporting facts, while any change to its standing through the disciplinary process remains uncertain.