Reactions as Man City defeat Liverpool to maintain Premier League top position
Reactions have continued to trail Manchester City’s 3-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, their first match since the club was found guilty of breaching financial rules.
The Enzo Maresca-led side brushed aside the effect of the allegations to produce a stunning performance at Anfield.
Liverpool missed the services of the likes of Dominik Szoboszlai, Cody Gakpo, and Alexander Isak and they struggled for firepower in the encounter.
The first half ended goalless before the game burst into life with three second half goals from the visitors.
Gravenberch was sent off for two bookable offences in the 62nd minute after fouling Jeremy Doku.
Three minutes later, Erling Haaland broke the deadlock with a powerful finish in the box following some good work from Jeremy Doku.
Jeremy Doku scored an absolute belter three minutes later to make it 2-0 as Man City turned on the gear.
Rayan Cherki added gloss to the victory with a sublime individual goal to make it 3-0 in the 78th minute as Liverpool struggled to find their way back into the game, earning Man City a sixth consecutive win in the Premier League.
Man City coach, Enzo Maresca, was proud of his players performance following the allegations.
He said: “Very proud of the players because I know how tough it has been for them in the last two or three weeks with the noise. We struggled a bit in the first half. Not good enough on the ball but in the second half we were much better.
“We changed something in the second half because we were not good enough on the ball. We adjusted something and we deserved to win the game.
“The red card was good for us, it changed the game. After two or three weeks with all the situations, our target is to deal with the noise and make our noise, to win games.”
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Liverpool coach, Andoni Iraola said he was proud of the team’s performance but disagreed with the first yellow card handed to Gravenberch.
He said: “I think the first part is that we played two different games. One until the red card, and then after. For 60 minutes, the players were very good. The second game from the red card was where City were better than us.
On Ryan Gravenberch’s red card: “The first yellow card was just a kick in the toe. It was nothing. It was a normal foul.
“It was the moment when we were pushing more. The momentum was coming for us and the atmosphere in the stadium was so nice.
“We conceded very little in the first half. We did a really good job. The second half, we were translating into chances.
“You learn a lot in games like today. I am very proud of my players. They put the work rate and everything in today. It’s a loss and we didn’t get anything from the performance but I liked it a lot.”
Man City’s Erling Haaland admitted that it was a tough outing for the team but described the win as a lovely moment.
He said: “Every single person part of Man City, and every fan, this is a lovely moment that will stay with us for a long time.
It was tough, it was hard but we showed amazing character from back to front. So proud of everyone.
“It’s always tough to come here, if you look at the record it’s tough. With the Pep and Klopp era it was tough for both teams, always has been.
“Important to stay strong mentally, stick together and do what you can do something about and the thing we can do something about is to play good football and fight together. That’s the only thing we can do.”
Liverpool captain Virgil Van Dijk revealed that the red card changed the course of the game.
He said: “First half was good from us. We showed our intensity, could’ve done better on occasions where we got on the break. They weren’t massive chances but we showed we wanted to win and we had intensity which is the bare minimum.
“Second half the red card changed the game, especially when you concede quickly afterwards. We end up with 10 men is the fact and we concede quickly after and it becomes a difficult game against them again.
“I think the atmosphere is always good here, I’ve been fortunate to play in a lot of big games here. For other players maybe it was different but for me I was ready to compete and I think we showed that especially in the first half.”
Man City have now won their first six games of the season to remain top of the Premier League log with 18 points, while Liverpool have earned nine points from six games to occupy the ninth position.
Up next for Liverpool in the Premier League is a clash against Brentford on Saturday, while Man City take on Ipswich Town at home on the same day.
In the other Premier League matches on Sunday, Crystal Palace defeated Nottingham Forest 3-1, Hull City played out a 2-2 draw against Everton.
