HENRY WINTER: Manchester City’s Anfield Victory Reveals Hidden Strengths Behind Their Controversial Triumph
Manchester City took all three points here at Anfield but could it all be pointless? Does this victory actually mean anything?
“Going down” chorused the Kop towards the City players as they celebrated with their fans. They’re going top – for now. This is the Premier League season that will be decided by lawyers. The season fast turns into a farce.
As Liverpool fans bayed “cheats, cheats, cheats”, Enzo Maresca grinned. He had plenty to smile about at Anfield. City head coach’s introduction of Jeremy Doku in the second half changed the game. Ryan Gravenberch couldn’t live with Doku, fouled him, stopping a breakaway, departing for a second yellow. The life went out of Liverpool. Already missing Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai, Liverpool had no cutting edge. City had plenty of it and showed their attacking skills with goals from Erling Haaland, Doku himself and a gem from Rayan Cherki.
At the final whistle, Anfield’s DJ put on “Little Lies” by Fleetwood Mac, a small gesture of defiance. But the real defiance came from City. This is Anfield. But it wasn’t the old Ali Sami Yen in Istanbul. It wasn’t La Bombonera in Buenos Aires. It was loud, raucous, an assault on the ears, but hardly physically intimidating. Enzo Fernandez will have witnessed worse at River Plate against Boca Juniors. Little fazes Elliot Anderson either. The Englishman, tough physically and mentally, tore into challenges on Lewis Koumas, Florian Wirtz and Alexis Mac Allister and stared them down whenever anyone reacted.
The away section of the Anfield Road end seethed with defiance. City fans waved their inflatable bananas, an echo of the craze in the late 80s. It was a stroll down memory lane, back to the Maine Road era, a reminder of an era before the Abu Dhabi riches. The bananas were a surreal gesture of defiance, almost a statement that they would back their team in whatever division.
Post Comment