Maresca Reflects on Manchester Derby Aftermath and Foden's Suspension

Enzo Maresca bristled at the idea that Manchester City’s derby narrative could be reduced to one flashpoint and one finish from Erling Haaland.

City had played most of the afternoon at Old Trafford a man down. To Maresca, that was the story.

“To talk about one moment after that game when we played for 70, 75 minutes with 10 players is quite poor,” he said, still smarting from Sunday’s chaos. “I think the performance was unbelievable and I’m pleased.”

Haaland’s goal, allowed to stand amid United protests, has dominated the fallout from a ferocious Manchester derby. Maresca, though, sees a wider pattern when it comes to big decisions in this fixture – and he hasn’t forgotten.

Old wounds from 2023

As the questions kept circling back to controversy, Maresca reached for a reference point that still irritates City.

He pointed to the 2023 meeting between the sides, when Marcus Rashford was deemed not to be interfering with play in the build-up to a key United goal against City – a call that infuriated the blue half of Manchester at the time.

“Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes against you,” Maresca said. “Three years ago when I was here happened the exact same against Manchester United. 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 will not accept being painted as the beneficiaries of some grand injustice without the context of what has gone before.

Foden’s flash of red

If Haaland’s strike lit up the headlines, Phil Foden’s dismissal changed the match. Reduced to 10 men, City were forced into a different kind of performance, one Maresca clearly admired.

At the heart of it, though, was a young star dealing with the consequences of a costly reaction.

“At half-time he was upset and sad because he knew it was something wrong,” Maresca revealed. “After the game he was a bit more relieved and happy. Yesterday he was very good. He knows that the reaction was probably not a good one but it is finished and we move on.”

There was no public dressing-down, no attempt to hang Foden out to dry. Just a blunt acceptance that the red card hurt the team and a line drawn under it.

The damage, though, runs into the coming weeks. Foden’s suspension bites hard at a busy stage of the calendar.

“It’s a big one,” Maresca admitted. “He was doing well with us. He started quite well before his red card. Now he is out tomorrow against Norwich and for Sunderland and Liverpool. Then he is back again.”

Whether City will appeal the decision remains uncertain. Maresca would not commit either way, leaving the club’s next step hanging.

Rotation, opportunity and a crowded calendar

Norwich arrive next, and with them the first real test of Maresca’s squad management in a season that will stretch deep into spring.

The Italian knows what’s coming: the grind of winter, the relentless churn of league and cup, the thin line between rhythm and fatigue.

“The ones that are going to play, I’m sure that they are going to play important games, in the Premier League or Champions League,” he said. “Now it’s early season with no injuries or suspended players. In November, December, January and February, with the amount of games, we will need rest.”

That is where nights like Norwich matter. For some, it is a chance. For Maresca, it is a necessity.

“The players that are going to play tomorrow, it’s an opportunity for them to get better and better. At some point we need them.”

He spoke less like a coach indulging his fringe players and more like a manager mapping out the months ahead. Every minute now is an investment in what comes later.

No free hits in the cup

The League Cup, in some dressing rooms, still carries an air of experimentation. For Maresca, it is another front to attack.

“One more competition,” he said. “We need to compete in all of the competitions. We will try our best and we will see where we finish.”

He has never hidden his preference for facing Premier League opposition in the cups, and nothing has changed there either.

“Absolutely,” he replied, when asked if he still wanted top-flight tests. “They are all tricky games, different games. We need to do our job in the right way and I have no doubt it will be a tricky game for many reasons.”

So the focus swings quickly from Old Trafford to Norwich, from the noise of a derby storm to the quieter, more unforgiving business of knockout football.

The complaints, the memories, the sense of unfinished business with United will linger. But Maresca’s reality is simpler: a suspended star, a stretched calendar, and another competition that will demand everything his squad can give.