Manchester City strengthened their Premier League title credentials with a ruthless 3-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield, extending their unbeaten league start.<\/p>\n
The turning point came in the 62nd minute when Ryan Gravenberch received his second yellow card for a challenge on Jeremy Doku. <\/p>\n
City quickly capitalised, with Erling Haaland and Doku scoring within six minutes before Rayan Cherki sealed the victory with a superb strike.<\/p>\n
Former refereeing chief Keith Hackett criticised referee Chris Kavanagh\u2019s decision to book Gravenberch for his first offence, arguing that the challenge did not warrant a yellow card. <\/p>\n
He also suggested the referee should have applied a higher threshold for bookings in such a high-pressure encounter.<\/p>\n
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk also expressed frustration, describing the dismissal as a decisive moment that changed the game.<\/p>\n
The victory marked City’s sixth consecutive Premier League win, taking them to the top of the table with 18 points. <\/p>\n
It was also their eighth straight win across all competitions under new manager Enzo Maresca.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Andoni Iraola suffered his first defeat as Liverpool manager. <\/p>\n
The Reds were already without key players, including Alexander Isak, Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai, making their task even more difficult after Gravenberch’s dismissal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"