MANCHESTER, England — The boos for the Premier League anthem were louder than usual at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and the stands were awash with inflatable bananas.
The chants from the home fans are different now and include renditions of “You’re going down with the City” and “Stockport away ole, ole.”
But other things are the same in Manchester City‘s post-verdict world. They’re still winning and Erling Haaland is still scoring. Regardless of whatever happens this weekend, Enzo Maresca’s team will be top of the table on Monday morning.
Whether it matters or not is another question. Found guilty of multiple breaches of financial rules, the club could be hit with a points deduction, which renders all this meaningless. Until then, City are plowing on as normal.
Another win — this time 3-2 against Ipswich Town — and another two goals for Haaland. It’s now seven wins from seven for City in the Premier League and 12 goals in 10 games in all competitions for Haaland.
Since the judgement from the three-person independent panel was published during the international break, Enzo Maresca’s team have won two from three — including against Liverpool at Anfield — and produced a creditable display against European champions Paris Saint-Germain.
For now, as Maresca likes to say, City have managed to block out “the noise.”
For that, his players deserve some credit. They’re not to blame for what’s happening off the pitch — that’s down to the club and their executives — and yet they’re the ones in the eye of the storm.
With significant sporting sanctions being considered and City’s appeal ongoing, they all face uncertain futures.
Rúben Dias said last week that even the most private members of the squad are not immune from receiving messages and memes. Media appearances have to be carefully managed. Individual performances are being forensically analyzed for signs of distraction.
Maresca and the staff have done their best to keep everything as consistent as possible behind the scenes, but there’s only so much they can do.
The rest is down to the players to manage and, so far, they’ve maintained a level high enough to keep winning games.
Asked afterward whether he felt his players deserved credit for how they’ve handled an unprecedented off-field situation, Maresca said: “Absolutely, yes. But also I understand that we give credit to the players.
“The players need to be worried about people inside the club and about me, for the credit I give to them. They are not worried that people can judge them from outside.
“They know that the people trying to judge them are people that are working. They need to say something and create some problems but inside, the players are happy.
“The club gives credit to the players, and I give credit to the players.”
Maresca is now the first manager to win his first seven Premier League games, beating a record jointly held by Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Ole Gunnar Solskjær. It did, though, come at a cost.
The Italian tried to rotate his group ahead of a packed schedule by making six changes, but he wasn’t able to wrap everyone in cotton wool.
Mateo Kovacic, Matheus Nunes, Nico O’Reilly, Antoine Semenyo and Haaland all limped off with injuries in the second half. Haaland looked in pain as he left the field at the final whistle after a challenge with Ipswich defender Jack Clarke.
“Unfortunately, in 10 minutes we had four or five players [injured], but they are inside now and we will see,” said Maresca.
“I don’t have any news at the moment. I asked all of them. Matheus and Kova said they were OK. Erling also said he was OK and Nico, it is still his back if you remember [the injury] against Coventry. It’s still the same problem. The only one we need to wait on is Antoine.”
More positive for City was a goal for Phil Foden. Back in the starting lineup for the first time since his red card against Manchester United, the midfielder scored his first goal since December 2025. For a player who was voted as the best in the Premier League as recently as 2024, that’s too long a gap.
“With Phil, I have known him from years ago,” Maresca said.
“He’s one of the best Premier League players and it’s my duty to help him be one of the best players. I’m very happy for his goal and hopefully it can just be the beginning of many good goals and many good performances.”
Consistency is key for Maresca — whether it’s Foden or anyone else — but he can have no complaints about what he’s seen from his team since the announcement of the Premier League verdict.
During an uncertain time and with the world watching, the players are still doing what they’ve always done: winning.
