IT had just turned to 7.50pm, when the pitch announcer cleared his throat and urged the City Of Manchester Stadium crowd to look up at the giant screen in the corner.

“Manchester City!” he screeched, building up the sense of theatre. “Please put your hands together and give a warm welcome for Sheikh Mansour!”

Cue an image of the Abu Dhabi billionaire, waving graciously to the expectant, grateful home fans; alongside him was chairman Khaldoon Al-Mubarak with Garry Cook, City’s chief unctuous executive, joining in the applause.

While some will have thought it trite and over the top, City’s supporters revelled. Here were their owners showing they mean business; for Liverpool’s frustrated, bewildered followers, it was also a scene of huge symbolism – once again, their appalling landlords were nowhere to be seen.

Had that been the only disappointment of an important night, it could have been easily shrugged aside but it was anything but; the start was bad, the middle was poor and the least said about the end, the better.

Occasionally scorelines can be deceptive but not here; Liverpool were soundly beaten and many will fear this – struggling to keep pace with the Blues from the other end of the M62 – is a sign of things to come.

Alex Ferguson may have berated United’s neighbours for “kamikaze spending” this summer but they have invested fortunes in the hope of becoming, one day, the world’s biggest club; Liverpool, on the other hand, haven’t even been able to buy the left-back they desperately require.

In 90 depressing, rain-soaked minutes, the feel-good factor that has been often talked about in the last couple of months evaporated in dramatic fashion and those harbingers of doom seized upon the opportunity to tell anyone who would listen that a long, gloomy year beckons.

They may well be right; until the farcical ownership situation is sorted out, until Liverpool’s finances are in shape again and until the squad is laced with quality and possess depth, keeping pace with City will, in all likelihood, prove to be an impossible task.

To stand any chance of doing so, Roy Hodgson needs to be able to keep all the class players he has in his squad but, regrettably, it appears as if he is going to lose the man who is widely-regard as the best holding midfielder in the world.

Javier Mascherano’s absence probably signals the end of his Liverpool career and if he doesn’t want to be here, fine; in telling Hodgson he wouldn’t play, he let himself, his team-mates, his manager and his club down. It was totally, utterly unforgivable.

He was, remember, a West Ham United reserve when arriving on Merseyside, unable to oust Hayden Mullins; he will depart in shame, having enraged those who are desperate for Liverpool to succeed; you don’t turn your back on the Red shirt. Ever.

In a show of staggering selfishness, Mascherano plunged Hodgson’s plans into chaos; Christian Poulsen was not fit enough to slot into the position he would have occupied and it meant the manager was forced to play an unfamiliar system. Shame on him.

With this being City’s first home game of the season, this contest was always going to be played in a fervent atmosphere particularly as the home team’s benefactor was sat in the posh seats and there were a number of new faces on show.

What Liverpool needed to do during the opening exchanges was keep City at arms length and stop the home crowd getting excited but, with their scurrying, midfield gremlin absent, Mancini’s expensively assembled team were able to find gaps at will.

Would Mascherano have lost the tackle Lucas did to Yaya Toure in the build up to City’s opening goal? Unlikely. But, unfortunately, Lucas dithered and allowed the Ivorian to feed Adam Johnson and, once that happened, Liverpool were in grave trouble.

Slipping James Milner into a wide open space, the England international squared for Gareth Barry and he did the rest, turning his effort beyond Pepe Reina’s grasp; it was no more than City, for whom Johnson sparkled, deserved.

Rocked back on their heels, Liverpool’s passing lacked cohesion and, most surprisingly, there were several occasions when they lacked organisation – no wonder, then, that every time Hodgson was seen in his technical area he was glowering, scowling and gesticulating.

Given the way form has gone in the fledgling stages of this campaign, you might have anticipated an emphatic response from the Reds after the break but they couldn’t shake themselves from the lethargy which was gripping them.

Sure enough, they fell further behind within seven minutes of the re-start to another scruffy goal; on this occasion, Milner’s corner was met firmly by Micah Richards and his header squirmed past Reina to give City breathing space. Carlos Tevez’s penalty simply added insult to injury.

So, in many ways, it was a night to forget but at least the hurt that was etched on Liverpool’s players showed they cared – which is more than can be said for the man who downed tools.