Maresca's City silenced the noise with a ruthless Liverpool demolition
Manchester City demolished Liverpool 3-0 in their first game since the guilty verdict. Maresca's side stays perfect and equals the Premier League's best managerial start.
Manchester City just walked into Anfield and won 3-0. Full stop. No drama, no excuses, just football.
This was their first match since being found guilty on 114 financial charges, and honestly, you could've expected some kind of deflation. Instead, Enzo Maresca's side came out swinging. Erling Haaland opened the scoring, then Jérémy Doku — who was absolutely class all afternoon — made it two. Rayan Cherki wrapped it up to make the scoreline look almost embarrassing for Liverpool.
What makes this result genuinely impressive isn't just the three goals. It's the timing. City's been battling this guilty verdict hanging over their heads, and there's been plenty of noise about what happens next — fines, points deductions, all that stuff. Maresca basically said they'd rather talk with their feet.
"You cannot imagine how happy I am," the manager said afterward. "I'm here to win." And yeah, that's exactly what they did. No apologies, no dwelling on the off-pitch chaos. Just six straight wins to start the season, which ties the best Premier League managerial debut record ever.
City's still top of the table, and they're looking genuinely scary. Doku in particular was doing things Liverpool's defense couldn't answer. He wasn't just running past people — he was creating space for others and making intelligent runs that stretched the backline thin.
The bigger picture here? City showed up when it mattered and showed everyone exactly where their head's at. All the legal stuff, all the questions about whether they'd be distracted — none of it mattered for ninety minutes at Anfield. They made their own noise, like Maresca said, and it was loud enough to drown out everything else.