Enzo Maresca does not want to talk about the verdict. He wants to talk about the scoreboard.
Manchester City won 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday, their first match since an independent commission found the club guilty of breaching more than 100 Premier League financial regulations. Asked afterwards about the appeal timeline, Maresca cut off the question with a single line, quoted by Goal: “You cannot imagine how happy I am. I don’t care.”
He expanded on the point only to turn it back on the pitch.
“The noise will always be there so we need to learn how to deal with that but at the same time we need to try and bring our noise, which is win games which is what we have done today.”
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Three goals in 13 minutes after Gravenberch’s red
For an hour Liverpool held the visitors at 0-0. Then referee Michael Oliver sent off Ryan Gravenberch for a second yellow, and the game collapsed.
Haaland scored on 65 minutes, turning in a Doku rebound. Doku added the second three minutes later. Rayan Cherki made it 3-0 on 78 with a right-foot finish from a Josko Gvardiol pass. NBC Sports called the dismissal “harsh” and said City “pounced” the moment Liverpool went down to 10.
City sit top of the Premier League table on the day the hearing was supposed to be the only story about them.
115 charges, £900m, nine seasons
The verdict landed about a fortnight ago. An independent commission ruled that between 2009 and 2018 the club used “sham” commercial contracts to inflate revenue by more than £900m, and that it had failed to cooperate with the investigation. City deny all wrongdoing and are appealing. If the appeal fails, the club faces sanctions that could run from heavy points deductions to expulsion from the Premier League.
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Maresca has repeated the same line on the ruling since it came down. Three days before Anfield, he told City’s in-house media that he was calm and so were the players.
“I am very calm, the club has been quite calm. We trust completely the club.”
“They don’t care too much about the noise. They are just focused on this moment, how we can beat Liverpool.”
Soriano and Viana at Anfield
Chief executive Ferran Soriano and sporting director Hugo Viana travelled to the match, a show-of-face that Maresca singled out.
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“For the importance of the game, Liverpool away, Anfield, I think it’s a good idea from the club to be all together. That togetherness at this moment is what we need.”
He also pointed to the Anfield atmosphere, where travelling City supporters were booed throughout and chants branded the club cheats, and reframed it as fuel.
“It can create togetherness with the fans. Hopefully we can celebrate a win. This is the only thing we can focus on.”
City’s next match is a Champions League fixture before the league resumes, with the appeal hearing timetable yet to be set.
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