It is a soundtrack that Manchester City have heard before but never for such sustained bursts during a match. It came from the Liverpool support, first ringing out around Anfield before kick-off and coming at regular intervals thereafter.

It was always going to be like this as City feel their way into a new reality, one conditioned by the guilty verdicts handed to them by an independent commission on virtually all of the 100-plus charges they have faced for breaking the Premier League’s financial rules. City continue to maintain their innocence and have appealed.

The Kop wanted to tell City what they are. And where they are going. According to them, they are cheats, who are set to be relegated. It was not exactly a bear-pit of an atmosphere; it was not really intimidating. It was more of an outpouring and it was impossible to ignore.

City did not care. They rolled with the invective. And after a slow-burn contest turned on a second yellow card for the Liverpool midfielder, Ryan Gravenberch, in the 62nd minute, City cut loose. All that their players can do is blot out the noise. They did so here, running all over Liverpool’s ten men to maintain their 100% start to the Premier League season.

It was Erling Haaland, inevitably, who lashed them in front and Jérémy Doku, on as a gamechanging substitute in the 56th minute, who curled them further in front with an absolute beauty. The best was still to come. Again, Doku was involved. Ryan Cherki dummied a pass from Elliot Anderson and ran on to a back-heel from another substitute, Josko Gvardiol. Cherki then cut away from Jeremie Frimpong, on as a Liverpool substitute, before shooting home. It was a team goal marked by individual brilliance. Liverpool were broken and en route to a first defeat under Andoni Iraola.

City had reason to curse the timing of this fixture. Apart from Manchester United at Old Trafford, it could hardly have been worse than a visit here. And not only because Liverpool were one of the clubs most seriously undermined by City’s accountancy practices. The visitors snuck their team buses around the back of the stadium on the way in, avoiding the jibes from the streets but it only postponed the inevitable. It was always going to be lively.

When the Premier League published the document that provided the first raft of details about the decision against City on the Tuesday before last, it hit hard. It was the weight of the language – how it dripped with contempt – as well as the sheer extent of the transgressions. Proven misconduct. Sham arrangements. Concerted attempts to frustrate the investigation. How some of the club’s witnesses gave evidence that they knew to be untrue. It served to frame this game. It will continue to frame each one that City play for the foreseeable.

The Liverpool supporters turned up the decibel levels sharply in the minutes before kick-off. It was frantic. It was fractious. For both sets of players, it was about mastering the occasion. The home fans in the Sir Kenny Dalgish stand did not need Ronald Araújo to whip them up in the second minute after he crashed into a slide tackle on Antoine Semenyo. You can imagine the reaction shortly afterwards when Marc Guéhi was penalised but not booked for going to ground too easily. Araújo got the yellow card for demanding that Guéhi be shown one.

The City fans came armed with scores of inflatable bananas. Some of them wore old-school match shirts. There was a message in there somewhere. Maybe to say that their club pre-dates the Abu Dhabi takeover. It was also possible to spot banners in support of Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the club chair.

You want banners? The Kop had that boxed off. There were some that riffed off Oasis lyrics, including one with the line that “after all, you really robbed us all.” The most eye-catching was unfurled before kick-off, featuring the word ‘cheats’ and a very long sequence of pound signs. The Liverpool crowd had the chants, too. From the get-go. Inside the ground, it was hard not to wonder how clearly they came across on TVs around the world.

There was very little to report in terms of first-half action. Even the melee that broke out in the 12th minute after Alexis Mac Allister tussled with Anderson was the definition of handbags. There were no big chances; the precision on the final ball was frequently absent. Liverpool had lost their best three best players of the season so far to injuries during the international break – Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo and Alexander Isak. Which plainly did not help their rhythm.

Iraola gave Lewis Koumas a full league debut up front and it was the 21-year-old who had the first decent effort of the game straight after the restart. Gianluigi Donnarumma stood tall to save. Liverpool upped the intensity and they had a spell where they pushed and the Kop felt the breakthrough was coming. Gravenberch worked Donnarumma. Mac Allister volleyed wide.

Haaland blew a glorious chance from a Semenyo pass on the hour, dinking past the far post but City had otherwise created little. Then everything changed. Gravenberch had caught the eye with his surging runs but he was on the wrong side when he challenged Doku, who was ready to spark a counterattack. It was clumsy from Gravenberch, the contact on Doku not exactly strong. But having been booked at the start of the second half for a foul on Anderson, Gravenberch was running an almighty risk. He did not get away with it.

City had their opening and how they pilled through it. The way that they overwhelmed Liverpool was really something; a demonstration of their strength. It was not a game for the neutral. Are there any such viewers where City are concerned any more? Doku almost teed up Nico O’Reilly and City were on their way when Haaland swept home from a deflected Doku cross. A new reality? Same old City on the pitch.