Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca has challenged his players to keep winning on the road after a commanding 3-0 victory at Anfield moved the Premier League leaders three points clear at the top of the table.
City were made to work for the breakthrough, with the first half offering little by way of clear openings. The turning point arrived in the 62nd minute when Ryan Gravenberch, already on a yellow card, was shown a second for a foul on Jeremy Doku, leaving Liverpool to play the final half hour with ten men.
City wasted little time exploiting their advantage. Erling Haaland broke the deadlock in the 65th minute, before substitute Jeremy Doku doubled the lead just three minutes later with a strike into the top corner.
Rayan Cherki then completed the scoring in the 78th minute, finishing off a slick team move after Elliot Anderson picked him out, Cherki let the ball run to Josko Gvardiol, and the Croatian returned the favour for the Frenchman to slot past Alisson.
Maresca: away games will come with ‘noise’
The win arrived against a backdrop of tension, with City still absorbing the fallout from being found guilty on more than 100 charges relating to breaches of Premier League financial rules.
Speaking afterwards, Maresca made clear that results, not words, would be his players’ response.
“All the away games are going to be with noise, so that’s why 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. This has to be our target in this moment,” he said.
The Italian, who took charge of City in the summer following Pep Guardiola’s departure, acknowledged the difficulty of the recent period for his squad but praised how they had responded under pressure.
“It was not easy for the players after the last two, three weeks. But I think they dealt with all the situation very good!” he said, according to City Xtra
“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 winning games, like we have done today!”
City fans drown out hostile reception
City’s travelling supporters had plenty to protest about before kick-off, with banners and chants aimed at the club’s financial-rule verdict setting the tone for a hostile reception at Anfield.
By full time, though, it was City’s away end making the noise, with Maresca insisting that was exactly the response he had asked of his players and supporters alike.
“At the end of the game, I think our fans were singing, so the noise was from us and not from the environment!” he added.
The result extends City’s unbeaten start under Maresca and hands them daylight at the summit.
Haaland’s goal continues a remarkable scoring run for the Norwegian, who has barely paused for breath since City’s season began, while Doku’s introduction from the bench once again proved decisive.
Cherki, meanwhile, underlined his growing influence in central areas, combining link-up play with a composed finish to cap a dominant second-half showing.
