Maresca Reflects on VAR Controversy After Manchester Derby Win
Enzo Maresca is not in the mood for apologies. Not now, and certainly not from Howard Webb.
Days after Pro Ref admitted Erling Haaland’s winning goal in the Manchester derby should have been ruled out, the Manchester City manager turned the conversation away from contrition and straight onto consistency. Or, in his view, the lack of it.
Maresca’s memory of a derby that still stings
The refereeing body accepted that Enzo Fernandez interfered with play in the build-up to Haaland’s decisive strike at Old Trafford, prompting Webb to publicly regret the VAR process. That admission lit the fuse.
Maresca went back to January 2023 in an instant. Same stadium. Same fixture. Very different response.
On that day, Marcus Rashford chased a Casemiro through ball from a clearly offside position. He never touched it, but he dragged City’s defence with him, shaping their line and their decisions. Bruno Fernandes arrived, swept in a 78th-minute equaliser, and United went on to win 2-1.
City were furious then. Maresca, working as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at the time, has not forgotten.
“I think sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it goes against you,” he said, addressing the media before 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."
Webb moved quickly to address Sunday’s controversy. Maresca’s point is that nobody hurried to a microphone after that 2023 defeat. No explanation. No regret. No Pro Ref mea culpa.
For him, that’s the issue. Not one decision in isolation, but the pattern.
Frustration as VAR storm clouds gather
What really irritates him, though, is that all of this is overshadowing what his team actually did at Old Trafford.
City played the bulk of the derby with 10 men after Phil Foden’s red card. They not only survived; they won it. A derby away from home, a man down for more than an hour, and still they found a way.
“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 word – “unbelievable” – is where he wants the focus. On the resilience, the organisation, the willingness to run when legs and lungs were empty. Instead, the narrative keeps drifting back to frame-by-frame replays and still images.
The VAR fallout now hangs over what has been an almost flawless start to his tenure at the Etihad Stadium. City have taken maximum points from their opening five Premier League games, setting an early pace that already feels ominous for the rest.
They are winning, they are adapting to a new manager, and they are doing it with a ruthlessness that looks very familiar.
No VAR, same Maresca
Next comes a change of stage and a change of competition. Norwich City arrive on Thursday in the League Cup, a tournament that, in its early rounds, strips away VAR and hands the whistle back to the referee alone.
For some coaches, that would invite a tweak in approach. Maresca is having none of it. He has made it clear his principles will not bend to the presence or absence of technology. His City will try to control games the same way, whether there are extra eyes in the booth or not.
What will change is the personnel. With a perfect league record to defend and a demanding schedule stacking up, rotation is inevitable. Key players will be wrapped in cotton wool where possible, others will be asked to stake their claim.
The standards, though, will not soften. Not under this manager.
Eyes forward, not in the rear-view mirror
Once Norwich are dealt with, the focus snaps back to the Premier League. Sunderland visit the Etihad on Sunday, another chance for Haaland and his teammates to stretch their 100 per cent start and keep the pressure cranked up on everyone else.
Maresca has made his point on refereeing. He has reminded Webb and Pro Ref of the derby that never drew an apology. He has pushed back against a storyline that reduces a ferocious, 10-man victory to a single freeze-frame.
Now comes the real test of his new City: can they keep winning while the noise around them refuses to quieten?
