‘That is brutal’ – What Liverpool fans chanted furiously in the final few minutes at Anfield

Liverpool fans made their rancour towards Manchester City very much known at Anfield on Sunday afternoon, especially in the closing minutes of the match.

It was the visitors who had the last laugh today as they ran out 3-0 winners, with all three goals coming after the ridiculously harsh dismissal of Ryan Gravenberch in the 62nd minute.

However, the result might yet pale into insignificance in the much bigger context of the Etihad Stadium outfit being found guilty of 114 breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules, with a mammoth points deduction and relegation among the potential punishments to come.

Liverpool fans vent their fury over Man City’s cheating

While the game was realistically over as a contest once Jeremy Doku doubled Man City’s lead five minutes after Gravenberch was sent off, many of the Liverpool fans in attendance remained defiant and angry right to the final whistle.

As Sky Sports reporter Adam Bate noted, every pass from the visitors in the closing minutes was met with angry chants of the word ‘cheats’ from much of the home support

Speaking on co-commentary for Sky Sports in response to that fury from the natives, Gary Neville said: “That is brutal. The players out there are being called cheats. That’s one of the worst things you can be called.”

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Liverpool fans had multiple reasons to feel aggrieved

The first thing we’ll put on record is that the players representing Manchester City on the pitch bear no responsibility for the flagrant and despicable rule-breaking of those in the boardroom who are culpable for the club being found guilty.

Nonetheless, the fury of the Liverpool supporters was most understandable as an opponent who, for almost a decade, disregarded the rules to which every Premier League club signed up were left smiling at Anfield, basking in the three points gained from this result.

The home fans’ ire felt even more impassioned because of the harsh dismissal of Gravenberch, an awful decision from Kavanagh which unquestionably changed the course of what had been a gripping contest until that point.

Man City will revel in this result, but they might yet get their comeuppance for the misdeeds of those at boardroom level.

For Liverpool, unfortunately, there’s the pain of defeat and the impediment of the Dutch midfielder being suspended for next Saturday’s league fixture away to high-flying Brentford, which’ll make the Reds’ task even more difficult.