LIVERPOOL -- Manchester City skulked into Anfield on Sunday through the back door, but strutted out of the front at the end of a day when their defiance silenced Liverpool's indignation. They have become the most unpopular team in Premier League history but, for now, they are riding the storm.
Yet as they celebrated a 3-0 victory on the pitch at the end of the game, the City players did so to the tune of "Little Lies" by Fleetwood Mac -- a song played without subtlety by the Anfield DJ.
Enzo Maresca's team may have won the points, but hearts and minds? Forget it.
Having been found guilty by an independent commission during the international break of all charges related to serious breaches of the Premier League's financial rules -- City were issued with 115 charges in total -- their trip to Anfield on Sunday was the club's first outing since they were condemned as cheats and accused by Premier League CEO Richard Masters of "systemically breaking rules for almost a decade."
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What a place to show their face again after two weeks of claim and counter-claim since the verdict was announced.
Plenty of teams have reason to feel a sense of injustice because of City's rule-breaking -- the club has appealed the verdict -- but Liverpool arguably suffered more than any other because of the prolonged and industrial scale financial chicanery for which City have been found guilty.
Yes, the period covered by the Premier League investigation was the seasons between 2009-2018, which only saw Liverpool challenge for the title once, when they finished runners-up to City in 2013-14, but the strength and wealth that City accumulated during that time was what made them such a formidable opponent for Jurgen Klopp's great Liverpool team from 2018 onwards.
Had City not inflated their commercial income by over £900 million, as found to be so by the independent commission, Klopp's Liverpool might have at least two more Premier League titles on their roll of honour. In 2018-19, Liverpool amassed 97 points. In 2021-22, they finished the season with 92. On both occasions, City edged them out by a point. Only a team of incredible talent and depth could do that and City, thanks to their ability to outspend their rivals year after year, proved too strong for arguably some of Liverpool's greatest-ever sides.