Manchester City manager Enzo Maresca and captain Ruben Dias have responded to criticism of the team's celebrations after a 3-0 win at Liverpool. In the first game since the club was found guilty of serious and multiple breaches of Premier League financial rules, the Blues kept their focus on the pitch and secured a significant victory at Anfield.
Maresca and his players celebrated with their fans on the pitch, drawing criticism from several prominent commentators who felt the response should have been more appropriate given the circumstances. The City boss said he could not understand why he and the players were not expected to celebrate doing their job.
Manager's response to criticism
"We won 0-3 at Anfield," Maresca said. "What do you want us to do? Even if it was 0-1, it would be exactly the same. We are here today to win tomorrow's game and we work every day to win games."
"It's the only thing that we can think, we can be focused. The rest is just things from outside that we need to deal with but we were so happy inside the pitch and you cannot imagine inside the changing room."
Captain's first words since verdict
Ruben Dias, speaking publicly for the first time since the guilty verdicts, said it had been impossible for the players to ignore the atmosphere they walked into. However, having done enough to win the game, they would not duck out of celebrating.
"I very much stand by the manager's words, so be it early in the season, later in the season, I and I think we will enjoy it just as much and celebrate however it feels in the moment. It will be a show of how much it means to us," he said.
"I feel it all mixes together but mainly we all know it is not easy for us in recent years to get three points at Anfield and that is definitely the main reason, we are here for the points to win competitions."
