Manchester City supporters made a striking visual statement at Anfield on Sunday, waving hundreds of inflatable bananas in the stands during the club's Premier League clash with Liverpool FC.

The gesture was widely interpreted as a direct response to Manchester City's recent guilty verdict — a pointed, sardonic message aimed at those celebrating the club's legal troubles. In English fan culture, inflatable bananas have a long and layered history as a symbol of defiance and dark humour, often deployed by supporters to mock or deflect serious accusations.

The sight of the yellow inflatables filling the away end drew considerable attention both inside the ground and across social media, reigniting debate about the charges Manchester City face and the club's relationship with its critics.

Manchester City were found guilty in a high-profile case that has cast a long shadow over English football. The verdict has provoked strong reactions from rival supporters and pundits alike, with many calling for severe consequences for the club.

Rather than respond with silence, City's travelling support chose a theatrical, tongue-in-cheek form of protest — one rooted in the club's own terrace traditions. The banana, once a staple prop at City matches during the late 1980s, has been reclaimed by a new generation of supporters as a badge of identity and collective humour in the face of adversity.

The display at Anfield underscored just how charged the atmosphere remains around Manchester City's ongoing situation, and suggested that, whatever the outcome, their fanbase has no intention of shrinking from the spotlight.