Enzo Maresca spoke after his Manchester City side beat Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday
Enzo Maresca believes beating Liverpool at Anfield was “good for all” at Manchester City - and reiterated the club will win their appeal against Premier League financial breaches.
City maintain their innocence have been found guilty of 114 charges by an independent commission and face severe punishment that could see them kicked out of the competition.
Sunday’s visit to Liverpool, their first match since the findings, ended in a comfortable 3-0 win after the Reds were reduced to 10 men with a controversial dismissal of Ryan Gravenberch shortly after the hour with the game still goalless.
And Maresca is unconcerned about the possibility the outcome may ultimately count for nothing.
“You cannot imagine how happy I am,” said the City boss. “I don’t care about (the charges), I’m here to try to prepare the games and win games.
“I said many times, hopefully I can speak about this situation when we’re going to win the appeal.
“Winning 3-0 at Anfield away, it’s a great result for sure. I think in this moment all the organisation needs this kind of win, so it’s good for us as a coaching staff, it’s good for the players, it’s good for the fans, it’s good for the organisation. This kind of win is good for all the club.”
City were subjected to relentless abuse from Liverpool supporters both before, during and after the game, with the Reds having missed out on several trophies during recent years when up against the Etihad outfit.
“The players they just focus on football,” said Maresca. “They are not thinking about the noise, about what’s happening in the future. They are 20, 25, 28, they just focus on what they like, that is play games, and that’s it.
“I said during the week, we need to learn how to deal with the outside noise because of the situation and the noise will be always there.
“But at the same time we need to try to make our noise, that is win games like we have done today, because at the end of the game, I think our fans they were singing, so the noise was from us and not from the environment.
“All the away games, they’re going to be with noise. So that’s why I’m saying that we need to learn how to deal with the noise, but at the same time we need to make our noise. And our noise is we’re singing at the end, our fans, us, and this has to be our target in this moment.”
City’s team coach - which had City Football Group chief Ferran Soriano on board - arrived at Anfield through a side entrance having followed an alternative route, and Maresca said: “The pre-match was quite a normal situation.
“And then in terms of the game, I think first half we struggled a little bit. We were good off the ball, but we struggled on the ball for different reasons. Then half-time we just adjusted something and I think second half we were much better.
“It was just the right timing. You know, the red card, the first goal from Erling (Haaland), so many, many, many things. But again, it was not easy for the players after the last two, three weeks, but I think they dealt with all the situation very good.”
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