Soccer-Boos, 'cheat' taunts greet Manchester City at Anfield

Soccer Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Manchester City - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - October 11, 2026 Liverpool fan with a banner related to the Manchester City's Premier League charges inside the stadium before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble

LIVERPOOL, England, Oct ⁠11 (Reuters) - 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 of114 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 concernsCity'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 Anfieldand was damaged ​badly enough that a replacement was required for the journey back to Manchester.

(Reporting by Lori Ewing in Liverpool; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

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足球 - 英超联赛 - 利物浦对阵曼城 - 安菲尔德球场，利物浦，英国 - 2026年10月11日 赛前，一名利物浦球迷在球场内举着与曼城英超联赛相关的横幅。路透社/菲尔·诺布尔

英国利物浦，10 月 11 日（路透社）——曼城周日抵达安菲尔德球场时发现，他们因违反财政规则而受到的处罚已经摆在了球场门口。

联赛领头羊利物浦自独立委员会认定他们违反英超联赛 114 项财务规则以来首次来到默西塞德郡比赛，而利物浦球迷已经准备好了一场冷酷的“欢迎”。

球迷们用震耳欲聋的嘘声和“降级，降级，降级！”的歌声淹没了曼城球队的宣布，他们指的是可能面临的降级处罚。

其中一条横幅上写着：“一代球迷作弊了”，一些球迷还举着三个印有数字 114 的气球。

与此同时，客场作战的曼城球迷高举着充气香蕉，这是他们上世纪 80 年代降级后留下的一个幽默传统。

他们的俱乐部否认了这些指控。

在利物浦球场外，纪念品摊位生意兴隆，出售印有“骗子”字样的旗帜和 T 恤。

其中一面旗帜上描绘了前曼城主教练佩普·瓜迪奥拉和包括埃尔林·哈兰德在内的球员，他们身穿黑红相间的囚服，背上印着“CHEATS”（作弊者）字样，囚犯编号为 114。

这是带有足球色彩的黑色幽默，也表明该裁决的影响迅速从听证室蔓延到英超联赛的部落剧场。

由于社交媒体上出现了一则推广“巴士问候”的帖子，默西塞德郡警方一直处于高度戒备状态，担心曼城队的巴士可能会成为袭击目标。

但当利物浦球迷在安菲尔德路两旁高举焰火，高唱反曼城歌曲时，球队却选择了另一条路线前往球场，到达时只有寥寥几名球迷到场。

2018 年，曼城队的大巴在安菲尔德球场参加欧冠比赛前遭到瓶子、易拉罐和焰火袭击，损坏严重，以至于需要一辆替代车辆才能返回曼彻斯特。

（利物浦 Lori Ewing 报道；Andrew Cawthorne 编辑）

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