Haaland maintained his superb individual start to the season, scoring City’s opening goal at Anfield to register his sixth league goal of the season with Jérémy Doku and Rayan Cherki also on target.
Skipper Dias, meanwhile, was the customary tower of strength at the heart of the Blues back-line on our return to domestic action, ensuring City left Anfield not just with three points but a satisfying clean sheet too.
It marked a sixth successive league win for City and helped extend the Blues’ lead at the top of the table to six points.
And for a delighted Maresca the role of two of the key members of the Club’s on-field leadership team was impossible to overstate.
“They [Dias and Haaland] have been very important since day one,” the City boss said in his post-match press conference.
“I said during the week, you want to hear different words, but the players are just focused about football.
“They are not thinking about noise or what’s happening in the future.
“They are 20, 25, 28. They are just focused on what they like and that’s playing games.”
Play the video to watch Maresca’s press conference in full...
