Manchester City fans turned their first home league game since the club’s financial rules verdict into a day of defiance. Tens of thousands at the Etihad Stadium booed the Premier League anthem before kick-off, then watched their side beat Ipswich to move six points clear at the top of the table.
Phil Foden celebrating with fans (Credits: BBC Sport)
The match was City’s first top-flight home fixture since the club was found guilty of breaching Premier League financial rules, and the supporters made their feelings crystal clear. The anthem was met with jeers and boos, followed by rousing chants of “City, City, City” around the ground.
Bananas, Boos and Gallows Humour
Fans arrived to find hundreds of inflatable bananas placed on seats in the home sections, which they waved throughout the match, turning the Etihad into a sea of yellow. The inflatables are a nod to the late 1980s, when a light-hearted joke among supporters turned into one of the most famous fan crazes in English football.
The gallows humour continued with chants about playing Stockport away, while Ipswich’s travelling fans were serenaded with “You’re going down with the City.” At one point, the surreal scene of fans jeering the Premier League anthem while waving bananas in the air summed up the mood of the afternoon.
Maresca’s Record-Breaking Start Continues
On the pitch, City’s perfect start continued. Phil Foden marked his return to the side with a 19th-minute opener, his first goal of 2026, after serving a suspension following his red card against Manchester United on September 13. He later took an inflatable banana into his Match of the Day interview.
“You can tell they are behind us and they’re pushing us,” Foden said of the fans. “It’s nice to play at home and you can hear how loud they are. They’re giving us that extra boost that we need.”
The win means Enzo Maresca has become the first manager in Premier League history to win his first seven games in charge, with no points dropped despite falling behind against Bournemouth and playing for more than an hour with 10 men at Old Trafford. A crowd of 60,817 was a new record at the Etihad Stadium.
“For sure I didn’t expect to win seven out of seven,” Maresca said. “Today we controlled the game for 95 minutes. We created chances, we scored. We finished with a little bit of suffering together but overall, it is good.” Taking over from Pep Guardiola, who won 20 trophies in 10 seasons, was always going to be a huge challenge — seven matches in, Maresca’s City look flawless.
Also Read: Do Manchester City Have Any Grounds To Win Their Financial Rules Appeal?
Source: BBC Sport — read the full story there.
