Enzo Maresca has admitted he would label Manchester City “cheats” if he were an Arsenal or Manchester United fan.

City and their owners are under fire after being found guilty by a Premier League independent panel of 114 of the 115 charges against them relating to breaches of financial rules.

In their first match since official publication of the verdict by the Premier League, and with a hefty punishment on the way subject to the club’s appeal, Maresca’s team won 3-0 at Liverpool on Sunday as Erling Haaland, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki scored for the visitors.

The Italian said: “It probably has been more tough for our fans than for the players or for me as it is more complicated [for them].

“Because if I am an Arsenal fan or a United fan and you are a City fan, I can tell you: ‘Hey, my friend, you cheat’, or this kind of thing.

“But we were happy at the end of the game and inside the changing room. We were very happy celebrating the three points because we know how difficult it is at Anfield.”

Maresca added: “We won 3-0 at Anfield. Even if it was 1-0, 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.”

City are in Champions League action on Wednesday night when they host winners of the last two editions of the competition, Paris Saint-Germain.

“I promise you that I stress a lot about the game plan and how we can train every day, but I don’t stress about things I don’t [control]," he continued.

"The message to the players will be the same. We know how serious the situation is, but at the same time it’s not something that we can do [anything about].”