But by the end it was the away section, decked out in blue and waving giant inflatable bananas, cheering loudly after a 3-0 win at Anfield in the English Premier League.
It is not yet known what the future holds for City after an independent panel found the club artificially inflated their revenue to help sign some of soccer's biggest stars and dominate the Premier League.
But for now they are sitting pretty at the top of the standings with a 100 per cent winning record and looking down on their rivals.
Second-half goals from Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki saw City take advantage of Liverpool going down to 10 men following a red card for Ryan Gravenberch around the hour mark.
City have been accused of providing misleading information about their finances over a nine-year period from 2009-18 — a span in which they won three league titles and signed superstar players like Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne.
They have appealed, but potential sanctions could include a massive fine, points deductions or even expulsion from England's top flight.
Another hostile reception was expected heading to Anfield but City's team bus largely avoided the home fans by taking an alternative route to the stadium.
Inside, however, there was quickly a taste of things to come as City were jeered with chants of "cheat, cheat" and taunts of "going down."
Yet by the time Cherki scored City's third, many Liverpool fans had seen enough, heading for the exit with still more than 10 minutes left to play.
Haaland spoke of his pride for the winning, telling Sky Sports: "For every single (City) fan, this is a lovely moment which will stay with us for a long time when it comes to the feeling after the game and in the game.
"It was tough and it was hard, but we showed amazing character. I'm so proud of everyone."
Meanwhile, Mohamed Belloumi came off the bench to maintain Hull's impressive start to the season by salvaging a 2-2 draw against Everton.
The newly promoted team have lost just once this season and went ahead shortly after halftime through Joe Gelhardt. Everton rallied through goals by Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Thierno Barry to take a 2-1 lead.
But Belloumi, a 64th-minute substitute, found the equaliser 10 minutes after coming on.
Oliver Glasner fell to a 3-1 defeat on his return to Crystal Palace with new club Nottingham Forest.
Glasner is a Palace hero after winning the FA Cup, Community Shield and UEFA Conference League as coach. He left at the end of last season and took over at Forest.
Palace rallied after Dan Ndoye put Forest in front in the third minute at Selhurst Park.
Daichi Kamada and Jefferson Lerma both struck for the home team at the end of the first half and Yeremy Pino added a third after the break.
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