Manchester City beat Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield on Sunday, a result that kept the club top of the Premier League and, according to bdnews24.com, gave its coach a platform to address the financial controversy surrounding the team.
Enzo Maresca, City's coach, said after the match that the club has to answer outside criticism by winning games and making its own noise. His comments came after a match in which Liverpool supporters spent much of the first hour jeering, shouting and mocking the visiting team, bdnews24.com reported.
City's traveling fans were far fewer in number, but bdnews24.com reported that their singing and chanting grew louder as the game went on and filled Anfield by the final whistle. The outlet described the win as the club's best possible tonic.
Why it matters
City has been at the center of a financial misconduct scandal, and bdnews24.com reported that football discussion around the club is rarely about anything else at the moment. The hostile reception at Anfield was expected, according to the outlet, but the 3-0 scoreline shifted the narrative.
The result also matters for the title race. According to bdnews24.com, City has now won all six of its matches and leads the Premier League table, with Arsenal second, three points behind.
Maresca's post-match remarks made clear that he expects similar hostility at away grounds for the foreseeable future. The club is waiting on the outcome of an appeal against a ruling connected to financial regulations, bdnews24.com reported, and the coach said he hopes to be able to speak about the situation if that appeal succeeds.
A win built amid a storm of noise
bdnews24.com reported that Liverpool fans tried to unsettle City mentally, with the volume inside the stadium at times loud enough to be painful. But the jeers faded as the match progressed, and City's small contingent of supporters became the dominant sound.
The outlet reported that Liverpool played with 10 men. City won 3-0, a result bd-pratidin.com also reported.
As soon as the match ended, Maresca embraced his coaching staff with visible emotion, according to bdnews24.com. He celebrated with the whole squad and then led the group toward the City supporters in the stands, joining in their songs as they marked the win together.
Maresca said the challenge of focusing on football while controversy swirls off the pitch is not easy. He said the team has to learn to live with the outside noise, which he expects to be a constant, and that its own voice has to come from winning matches.
"Because of the current situation, we have to learn how to adapt to the outside noise," Maresca said, according to bdnews24.com. "This noise will always be there. But at the same time, we have to try to make our own noise, and that is winning matches, like we did today."
He added that after the game it was City's supporters who were singing, not Liverpool's, and that this was the sound coming from his side.
Maresca also said he understands the hostility will not disappear soon. bdnews24.com reported that the Anfield experience made clear what awaits City in future away matches, and that the club, while waiting on the appeal, should expect similar treatment on the road as a matter of routine.
"My feeling is that we will have to hear this kind of noise in every away match," Maresca said, according to bdnews24.com. "That is why I say we have to learn the strategy to handle these things and we have to raise our own voice too. Our voice is: who is singing at the end of the match? At this moment that has to be our target."
Club unity and praise for the players
bdnews24.com reported that City's chief executive and the club's football director were among several senior figures at Anfield to support the team. Maresca said the club was united and that having everyone together for a match of this importance, at Anfield, was a good decision.
"We were all united," he said, according to bdnews24.com. "I think considering the importance of the match — at Liverpool's ground, at Anfield — it was a good decision for everyone from the club to be together. At this moment we need this unity."
The coach also praised his players for how they concentrated on the match during two weeks of intense controversy. He said the game was not easy for them after that period and that he felt they handled the whole situation very well.
Maresca said the whole team needed a win like Sunday's. He said it was good for the coaching staff, the players, the supporters and the organization.
"I came here to prepare for matches and to win matches," he said, according to bdnews24.com. "I have said many times, I hope that if we win the appeal, we will be able to talk about this situation."
bdnews24.com also reported separately that the British prime minister will publish details of dealings with Manchester City. That report did not include further specifics.
What happens next: City's ability to keep winning while the appeal is pending will determine whether the noise around the club stays in the background, and the team's next away fixtures will test whether Maresca's approach holds up.
