Enzo Maresca Refuses Apologies Amid VAR Controversy
Enzo Maresca is not in the mood for apologies. Not now, and certainly not when they arrive for someone else.
Days after Pro Ref admitted that Erling Haaland’s winning goal in Sunday’s Manchester derby should have been ruled out, the Manchester City manager turned the spotlight straight back on the officials – and on a derby wound that has never quite healed inside the Etihad.
Old Wound, New Anger
The refereeing body accepted that Enzo Fernandez interfered with play in the build-up at Old Trafford, prompting Howard Webb to express regret over the VAR process that allowed the goal to stand. An apology, of sorts. An explanation. A mea culpa.
Maresca’s response was icy.
Because he has seen this film before.
He went straight to January 2023. Same city, same rivalry, same sense of injustice. Back then he was Pep Guardiola’s assistant, watching Marcus Rashford chase a Casemiro pass from an offside position, dragging City’s defence with him while never touching the ball. Bruno Fernandes swept in the equaliser. United went on to win 2-1. The title race shifted. The law, City felt, had been bent out of shape.
No apology came.
“I think sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it goes against you,” Maresca told reporters ahead of City’s League Cup tie with Norwich City. “Three years ago when I was here it happened exactly the same against Man United. We lost the derby there. The goal was not a regular goal, if you remember. To be honest, no-one apologised. We are still waiting for the apology for that goal."
That last line hung in the air. A reminder that Webb’s public contrition over the latest incident has not been evenly distributed across Manchester.
Double Standards and a Forgotten Performance
For Maresca, this is not just about one decision. It is about consistency, or what he sees as a lack of it. If Sunday’s call merited a public climbdown, why did the 2023 controversy not cross the same threshold?
His frustration, though, runs deeper than an argument about offside interpretation. What truly grates is that City’s display at Old Trafford – a derby victory carved out with 10 men for most of the afternoon – has been reduced to a talking point about VAR.
Phil Foden’s red card left City a man down for around 70 to 75 minutes. They still found a way to win. They still found a way to bend the game to their will.
“Talking about one episode or one moment after that game when we played for 70, 75 minutes with 10 players I think is … I don’t know the right word, I think it’s quite poor," Maresca said. "The second-half performance was unbelievable."
That is the part he wants remembered. The resilience. The control with a numerical disadvantage. The champions refusing to fold in the most hostile of environments.
Instead, the narrative has drifted back to VAR, angles, freeze-frames and retrospective regret.
VAR Storm Around a Flying Start
The irony is that all this noise comes at a time when City are flying. Maresca’s first weeks in full command at the Etihad have been close to flawless. Five Premier League games. Five wins. The champions have not just defended their crown; they have set an early pace that already stretches the field behind them.
The derby comeback with 10 men only sharpened the sense that this is a side with a hard edge as well as a polished one. A team that can suffer, adjust, and still walk away with the points.
Yet the VAR fallout threatens to smother that storyline. Instead of focusing on City’s perfect start, the conversation keeps looping back to an offside call and an apology that arrived too late to change anything – and, in Maresca’s eyes, too selectively to feel fair.
Cup Rotation, Same Relentless Standard
Now comes a brief change of scenery. The League Cup, Norwich City at the Etihad on Thursday night, and a different kind of test.
There will be no VAR in the early rounds of the competition. The debates and diagrams will be left at the door. Decisions will stand as the referee sees them in real time, a throwback that some managers welcome and others dread.
Maresca, though, has no intention of adjusting his approach. The philosophy remains the same: control the ball, control the space, control the tempo. The tools do not change just because the technology does.
With a perfect league record to protect and a packed schedule ahead, he is expected to rotate heavily, protect key legs, and lean on the depth that has underpinned City’s domestic dominance in recent seasons. The standard, though, will not drop. It rarely does here.
Eyes Back on the Title Race
Once Norwich are dealt with – or not – attention snaps straight back to the Premier League. Sunderland arrive at the Etihad on Sunday, another opportunity for City to stretch their 100 per cent start and keep rivals chasing shadows.
Haaland will lead the line again, the focal point of a side that has learned to live with chaos around it. VAR storms. Apologies. Old grievances that never quite fade.
Maresca has made one thing clear: he will not let officiating controversies define his team’s season. He remembers the derby that got away in 2023. He has heard the apology that never came. And now, with City already out in front, he intends to make sure that the only thing anyone can talk about by spring is the table.
