Manchester City suffered their first Premier League defeat of the season at a boisterous Aston Villa on Saturday, amid persistent reminders of their financial charges.
“You know what you are,” echoed around Villa Park, with the chant including the word “cheating” after City’s guilty verdict over breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules.
While it has been business as usual around the club as they await any sanctions and the outcome of their appeal, midfielder Elliot Anderson seemed to let the mask slip when asked whether his side would face a hostile Villa crowd.
“Yes, probably,” the England international told TNT Sports prior to the game. “Everywhere we go we get it.”
Liverpool fans made their feelings known during City’s trip to Anfield, while the Midlands visit was just City’s second away game since the independent commission announced its decision.
Those in the travelling party have been given a clear flavour of what lies ahead for the rest of the season and, with players openly speaking about taking flak, the antagonism seems hard to block out.
But manager Enzo Maresca remained steadfast in his belief that the two recent away performances showed the players will not be affected by recent events.
“We played Liverpool away, Villa away, and the players showed that they don’t care about noise,” Maresca told BBC Sport. “They play the game, they are focused on the game and are doing the right things.
“We are focused on our job and the players are focused on what they can do on the pitch. I think at Liverpool and Villa away, they showed they can focus on what they can control.
“We don’t give too much attention to what we can find when we go away; we just focus on how we can try to do our best and try to win games.”
Defender Marc Guehi said last week it can be “very easy to listen to the noise” and to be “affected by everything going on”, but everyone is “just focusing on the football”.
The centre-back, though, found things tricky on the field against Villa, giving away the ball for the opening goal and receiving a yellow card for hauling down goalscorer Nicolas Jackson before being taken off at half-time.
Maresca said he was “completely happy” with Guehi, whom he described as a “top guy”, and that when he or goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma make mistakes, it is “recognised”.
The City faithful have countered the hostile atmosphere with their own self-deprecating “gallows humour”, hitting back at chants with “we know what we are” and “City’s going down with a billion in the bank”.
Back-to-back home games against Brighton, in the Carabao Cup and Premier League, should provide some respite this week.
Maresca’s men then head to RB Leipzig in the Champions League before travelling to Nottingham Forest in the league on 7 November.
Supporters at the City Ground know all about being on the receiving end of Premier League sanctions, after being docked four points in 2024 for breaching financial rules.
Forest fans, though, are unlikely to show much sympathy for City’s situation.