Maresca on VAR Controversy in Manchester Derby Win
Enzo Maresca bristled at the idea that a line on a screen and a missed offside call should define Manchester City's derby win at Old Trafford.
For him, the story was simple: 70-plus minutes with 10 men, a relentless City display, and Erling Haaland deciding it with the only goal. Everything else? “Quite poor.”
Maresca braced by VAR storm
Haaland’s strike on the hour settled a snarling, attritional derby, City grinding out a 1-0 victory over Manchester United to claim a fourth successive league win. It should have been the headline performance of Maresca’s early reign, a statement result carved out under pressure after Phil Foden’s red card left them a man down for most of the afternoon.
Instead, the conversation has been hijacked by the fallout from the VAR decision that allowed the goal to stand.
Initially, the assistant’s flag went up. On the pitch, the goal was ruled out for offside. Then came the familiar pause, the geometric lines, the check. VAR judged Haaland onside, the decision was overturned, and City celebrated.
Only later did the referees’ body accept that the wrong player had escaped scrutiny.
Replays showed Enzo Fernandez had been offside in a central position, diving towards the ball and interfering with opponents. That offence went unseen in real time and unspotted in the review room. The goal stayed on the board. The controversy hasn’t moved since.
“There is knowledge that there was a mistake and that's all,” Maresca said ahead of Thursday’s Carabao Cup third-round tie against Norwich City. “Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes against you. It's football.”
“Quite poor” that performance is forgotten
What irritated the City manager was not the admission of error, but the way it has swallowed the narrative of a derby his side controlled for long spells despite their disadvantage.
“Talking about one episode or one moment after that game when we played for 70-75 minutes with 10 players, I think it's quite poor,” he said. “I think the performance was unbelievable, and I'm pleased with the performance.”
City did the hard part the old-fashioned way: organisation, discipline, and a ruthless edge when the chance finally came. Haaland, as so often, delivered the cutting touch. The storm arrived afterwards.
Old wounds at Old Trafford
Maresca’s frustration runs deeper than one weekend. He has history in this fixture.
Before taking the job in his own right, he worked under Pep Guardiola and remembers a derby in January 2023 very differently from those now calling for apologies.
“Three years ago when I was here [as Guardiola's assistant], it happened the exact same against United,” he said. “The goal was not a regular goal and no one apologised. We are still waiting for the apology for that.”
The message was clear: City have lived through the other side of these calls. The sense of injustice, the silence that follows, the points dropped. This time, the break went their way.
Webb: “We fell short”
Premier League refereeing body Pro Ref has already held its hands up. Chief Howard Webb, speaking on ‘Match Officials Mic'd Up’, confirmed that the officials simply did not factor in Fernandez’s position before awarding Haaland’s winner.
“I was really disappointed with this outcome. We all are,” Webb said. “None more so than the officials themselves. They take a lot of personal pride in what they do and they're obviously hurting now, having fallen short in this situation.”
It is a rare public admission and another flashpoint in the ongoing debate around VAR’s role and reliability in the Premier League.
Maresca, though, has little interest in replaying screenshots and angles. His focus stays on the pitch, on the resilience his side showed with 10 men, on the statement they made in enemy territory.
The table will remember the three points. The question is whether the season will remember the controversy or the team that kept winning through it.
