Following Manchester City's decisive victory over Liverpool, Oliver Brown, a journalist at The Daily Telegraph, published an article with harsh words about Manchester City's current situation. He argued that Manchester City appears to have no concept of shame, with players and fans reveling in celebration as though glory obtained through unlawful spending were legitimate and, frankly, accepting their status as the pariahs of the football world.

It is often said that cheaters never prosper. But after Manchester City's dominant return, crushing Liverpool with almost contemptuous ease, that old adage might need reevaluation. Naturally, players and fans reveled in the moment, as though glory acquired through unlawful spending were legitimate. Inflatable bananas, an euphoric Noel Gallagher, and mocking chants from the stands when Gary Neville appeared pitchside for Sky Sports commentary: this celebration was overflowing with unbridled arrogance.

Shame? It seems Manchester City, from top to bottom, has no idea what that word means.

They have frankly accepted their status as the pariahs of the football world, with some fans even displaying banners resembling the Oasis logo with the inscription "Cheaters". On the surface, this was one of Manchester City's most impressive results in their history: driven by a controversial red card for Gravenberch, a buoyant Manchester City inflicted Liverpool's worst home defeat in the Premier League era. But ultimately, this victory could prove meaningless, a thought that offered some consolation to The Kop during this agonizing afternoon.

Liverpool fans chanted "you're going down", while Manchester City players, in their sky blue shirts, continued celebrating as though they were wronged angels.

The whole affair was a complete farce.

This absurd situation will not disappear next week, next month, or even next year. Every decisive Manchester City victory, every spectacular goal, stands under a shadow: these achievements could be completely erased from the official records. The team clearly aspires to win the league title again, but ultimately, this trophy could be recorded as a blank space or redistributed.

So even when the opponent is defeated, they can still mock the victors with impunity. Liverpool's reaction is the best example. In any other circumstance, such a result would be humiliation for the Reds, and fans would direct their anger toward manager Arne Slot. But this time, they were almost indifferently calm.

The stadium announcer played Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies", bringing the match to an end.

It was clear that Manchester City was determined to overwhelm their rivals. After City scored their third goal in 13 minutes, chants of "keep attacking" rang out from the bench, and Maresca gestured wildly, pointing to the team's unstoppable momentum. However, Manchester City Football Club itself is engulfed in another fire that even Haaland's brilliance cannot extinguish. In fact, Manchester City is currently in peak form, on track to replicate their hundred-point achievement from nine years ago. Yet precisely those hundred points are what the club could lose due to years of vastly inflated revenues.

This stark contradiction has created one of the most bizarre atmospheres in English football history: Manchester City's decisive victory at Anfield was impressive on a competitive level, but its spiritual core was hollow and devoid of meaning.

Intense tribalism makes people unwilling to admit it, but in the current situation, two facts can coexist. On one hand, you can marvel at Haaland: scoring quickly after missing a golden opportunity, encouraged by his father Alf-Inge in the stands; you can also appreciate Doku's exquisite skill, whose curling shot briefly silenced the roaring Anfield.

But on the other hand, you also feel disappointed by Manchester City fans' apathy, displaying banners that read "In Khaldoon We Trust", completely ignoring the true origins of the club's current vast competitive advantage.

The football world has been anxiously awaiting the result of Manchester City's appeal. It was widely expected that the guilty verdict, reached by an independent commission after reviewing hundreds of thousands of pieces of evidence, would instill some humility in Manchester City. But the scene at this match presented exactly the opposite. Manchester City, of course, denies all accusations, and their ostentatious celebration of victory is genuinely difficult to accept. Take those inflatable bananas, for example—they are ostensibly a nostalgic tribute to the 1980s, when waving bananas became popular after Manchester City were relegated to the second division. Is the tacit message: even if the team is relegated several divisions, fans will support them just the same?

Such actions are incredibly strange, almost to the point of defiance.

This Manchester City under Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan is vastly different from the era managed by Jimmy Frizzell, with infinite wealth allowing the club to commit unprecedented violations. 900 million pounds—that is the total amount Manchester City allegedly inflated their commercial revenues through fictitious contracts. Yet the arrogant attitude of players and fans at Anfield makes one feel as though they are proud of it. Away fans repeatedly chanted: "You're being torn apart by the Leopards" toward the end of the match.

This mentality is often known as a siege mentality.

The entire team under Maresca is deeply rooted in it: Haaland blew a kiss to the away section after scoring, and Elliott Anderson praised his teammates for their fearless courage. But such declarations of loyalty and solidarity are essentially superficial. It is true that players currently pledging eternal loyalty to the team will not hesitate to leave once sanctions are officially applied.

Currently, Manchester City has a perfect record tainted. Backed by a squad brimming with stars, assembled through generous spending and unshakeable resilience, they appear capable of overwhelming any opponent. Even if achieving 38 consecutive victories is a challenge for them, should they accomplish it, they would accumulate an ironic 114 points.

Liverpool fans displayed this number with golden balloons, commemorating the number of charges confirmed against their opponents; the stands also featured songs adapted from Oasis, with a banner in the front row of The Kop reading: "And after all, you really did steal us blind".

Too dramatic? Not at all.

This scandal is stripping football of many invaluable things, the first and most important being the credibility of the Premier League itself.

Traducido por IA.

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