Manchester City fans came out swinging, booing the Premier League anthem loud and proud, then watched their team pull six points clear at the top of the table after shutting down Ipswich. This wasn’t just another win, it was a defiant roar from the Etihad faithful, their first top-flight home game since the Premier League dropped the hammer on them for breaching financial rules.
The Etihad Was A Sea of Yellow Defiance
Seriously, the atmosphere in east Manchester was absolutely electric. Tens of thousands inside Etihad Stadium didn’t just boo and jeer when the Premier League anthem kicked in; they immediately launched into a booming ‘City, City, City’ chant. You could feel the anger, but it mixed with this wild gallows humor too, with chants about playing Stockport away and telling Ipswich’s traveling support, “You’re going down with the City!” Even manager Enzo Maresca said he felt that air of defiance from the stands before the game even started. “The environment was very good,” he said after the match, which pulled in a record crowd of 60,817 for Etihad Stadium. “The fans, the club and the players are all together on this journey.”
And the bananas? Oh man, the bananas! Fans arrived to find hundreds of inflatable bananas placed on their seats, turning the Etihad into a massive sea of yellow throughout the game. This isn’t just some random stunt; it’s a throwback to a legendary fan craze from the late ’80s. It’s making a comeback at a seriously charged moment, right as City appeals being found guilty of breaching financial rules between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, and creating ‘sham contracts’ to inflate sponsorship deals by a mind-blowing £830 million. Talk about a statement. You had these surreal scenes of fans jeering the anthem while waving these bright yellow inflatables. Phil Foden, fresh off a goal, summed it up perfectly: “You can tell they are behind us and they’re pushing us. 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.”
Maresca’s Flawless Start and Foden’s Fiery Return
Look, taking over from Pep Guardiola, who brought in 20 trophies over 10 seasons, was never going to be easy. But Enzo Maresca? The dude is making history. He’s the first manager in Premier League history to win his first seven games in charge. Seven matches in, City’s record is absolutely flawless. Zero points dropped, seven wins out of seven, and that’s despite having to fight back after falling behind against Bournemouth, and playing for over an hour with only 10 men against Manchester United. This is the best start City has seen since way back in 1897! Maresca himself admitted, “For sure I didn’t expect to win seven out of seven. We are working well and working good. I’m very happy especially with the situation in general. 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.”
And what about Phil Foden? The man came back from a suspension after being sent off against Manchester United on September 13th and immediately dropped his first goal of 2026 in the 19th minute. Talk about making an entrance! Maresca clearly loves the guy, saying “I said since day one that I love P” [Phil]. With the fans going absolutely nuts and the team pulling off a flawless run, this City squad is looking seriously dangerous.
The Premier League has to be watching, right? What a statement from the fans and the team. It’s going to be wild to see if they can keep this perfect record going and what other surprises they have up their sleeve as the season rolls on.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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