Maresca's Frustration Over VAR Controversy in Manchester Derby

Enzo Maresca is not in the mood for apologies. Not now, and certainly not when they arrive 18 months late and addressed to someone else.

Days after Pro Ref admitted that Erling Haaland’s match-winning goal in the Manchester derby should have been ruled out for offside interference by Enzo Fernandez, the Manchester City manager used his pre‑League Cup press conference to turn the spotlight back on what he sees as a glaring double standard.

Maresca’s memory of a derby that never got an apology

The admission from refereeing chief Howard Webb — that Fernandez was actively impacting play in the build-up at Old Trafford — came with a public expression of regret over the VAR process. It was meant to draw a line under another stormy weekend for officials.

Maresca heard something very different: selective accountability.

He went straight back to January 2023. Same stadium. Same fixture. Same controversy.

That day, with Maresca on the bench as Pep Guardiola’s assistant, Marcus Rashford chased a Casemiro through ball from a clearly offside position. He never touched it, but he dragged City’s back line with him, opened the space, and Bruno Fernandes swept in a 78th‑minute equaliser. United went on to win 2-1. City went home furious.

No apology followed.

“I think sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it goes against you,” Maresca told reporters. “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.”

The point landed. Webb had been swift and visible this time. Back then, silence.

Frustration at a narrative hijacked by VAR

Maresca’s irritation does not stop at perceived inconsistency. What really cuts is that the entire debate has swerved away from what his team actually did at Old Trafford.

City played the bulk of the derby with 10 men after Phil Foden’s red card, yet still found a way to win. It was the sort of performance managers usually dine out on for weeks. Instead, the conversation has been swallowed by one freeze-frame and a set of lines on a screen.

“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,” he said. “The second-half performance was unbelievable.”

He is right to call it that. A champion side, away at their fiercest rivals, a man down for most of the contest, still imposing their game and landing the decisive blow late on. Those are the days title-winning seasons are built on.

Yet the fallout has fixated on VAR, angles, and interpretations. The football has been pushed to the margins.

A perfect start, threatened by the noise

The noise comes at an awkward time for Maresca. His City reign has started at full throttle. Five wins from five in the Premier League. A squad that looks refreshed rather than jaded by success. A manager who has walked in with clear ideas and watched his players carry them out with ruthless efficiency.

The derby win, achieved under duress, should have been the strongest endorsement yet of the new era at the Etihad. Instead, it risks being remembered as another chapter in the sport’s never-ending officiating saga.

Maresca is determined not to let that happen. The message from the training ground is simple: the decisions will come and go, the work stays the same.

No VAR, same City

Now comes a different kind of test. Norwich City arrive at the Etihad on Thursday in the League Cup, a competition that does not use VAR in the early rounds.

For a coach whose football is built on structure, detail and control, you might expect a tweak, a note of caution, some mention of adapting to the absence of technology. There is none. Maresca has made it clear his approach will not bend to the presence or absence of a replay screen.

City will rotate. They have to. The schedule is already biting, and with Sunderland visiting on Sunday in the Premier League, key players will be protected. But standards will not soften just because it is the cup and the cameras will not be drawing offside lines.

The expectation is that City’s depth carries them through, that the rhythm of their league form spills over into knockout football, that the squad players mirror the intensity of the regular starters.

Focus on the chase, not the complaints

Haaland and his teammates will return to league duty at the weekend with a perfect domestic record and a familiar target: stay clear, stay sharp, keep everyone else in the rear-view mirror.

Maresca has made his point about refereeing and respect. He has reminded the authorities that City have long memories too. The question now is whether his players can keep turning that sense of grievance into fuel.

If they do, the apology City are really chasing this season will not come from Howard Webb. It will come in the form of another trophy being handed over in May.