Raheem Sterling fired back at Liverpool fans giving him ‘abuse’ after Manchester City thrashed the reigning Premier League champions on Thursday night.
City gave the Reds a guard of honour before the game, but turned on the style to win 4-0, sending a clear message to their rivals.
Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne starred in a clinical display and Liverpool supporters raged online with such a dismal performance from their side.
With messages flooding in, Sterling posted on Twitter addressing all the furious Reds fans.
‘Wow so much abuse in here. It’s just a game people, you win some, you lose some,’ he said.
‘But still happy to win it tonight. Have a good night FT.’
While Jurgen Klopp cut a frustrated figure during and after the game, Pep Guardiola was delighted to see his side step up.
Liverpool are still 20 points ahead of City in the table, but Sterling revealed the Sky Blues coach was determined to put down a marker for next season.
‘The manager said that next season started today,’ Sterling explained.
‘We had a test to make a point and we did brilliantly.’
Liverpool fans were speculating about whether the squad’s celebrations last week had an effect on their performance, but Guardiola insisted the Reds were fully focused.
He said; ‘I’m delighted. Congratulations to the team, we beat the champions with the quality they have.
‘I saw in the guard of honour how incredibly focused they were, how they shouted. I saw their faces, that’s why they’re champions.
‘They didn’t come here to celebrate. They’d drunk enough beers and they came here to compete.
‘So the chances we created, to beat them 4-0, it was so important for preparing against Arsenal and Real Madrid.’
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