LIVERPOOL, England -- Enzo Maresca has praised Manchester City's togetherness after the club's hierarchy showed a united front during Sunday's 3-0 victory over Liverpool.
City romped to an emphatic win at Anfield in their first outing since an independent commission found them guilty of 114 breaches of the Premier League's financial rules.
City CEO Ferran Soriano was in the directors box for the game alongside director of football Hugo Viana, and Maresca was full of praise for the way the club's most senior figures showed their support for his team on Merseyside.
"Ferran was there, Hugo was there," the City boss said. "We were all together. For the importance of the game, Liverpool away, I think it's a good idea for the club to be all together. It's togetherness that in this moment we need."
Reflecting on how his players have handled the external noise surrounding the club in recent weeks, Maresca added: "It was not easy for the players after the past two or three weeks but I think they handled the situation very well. I said during the week, we need to learn how to deal with the outside noise.
"Because of the situation, the noise will always be there so we need to learn how to deal with it. At the same time, we need try to make our noise by winning games like we did today. At the end of the game, it was our fans singing so the noise was from us and not from the Liverpool fans.
"To win at Anfield is a great result, for sure. In this moment, all of the organisation needs this kind of a win so it's good for us as a coaching staff, it's good for the players, it's good for the fans. This kind of a win is good for the whole club."
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City have appealed the independent commission's verdict. However, it is not clear when a full resolution will be reached.
Asked whether the threat of potential sanctions had diminished his enjoyment of the victory, Maresca said: "You cannot imagine how happy I am. I'm here to try to prepare the games.
"I have said many times, hopefully I speak about this situation when we win the appeal."