Manchester City coach Enzo Maresca expressed support for the VAR officials after his team gained an advantage from an obvious mistake in the match, which ended with a 1-0 victory over Manchester United. He called on critics to focus on the impressive performance of the team, which played the match with ten players.
Erling Haaland scored the controversial winning goal in the 60th minute at Old Trafford on Sunday, securing City's fourth consecutive Premier League victory. Initially, Haaland was noted as being offside, but VAR ruled that he was playing within the rules due to Manchester United defender Patrick Dorgie, without accounting for the position of Enzo Fernandez, who was clearly offside and interfered with the play.
The refereeing body Pro Ref acknowledged a 'judgment error,' noting that the video assistant referee should have recommended a review on the field. Nevertheless, Maresca defended the referees before Thursday's League Cup match against Championship side Norwich.
He stated: 'Sometimes decisions work for you, sometimes they are against you. But I think that for VAR, for the people who are in front of the screen, and in 10 or 20 seconds they have to make a decision, it is not easy. They sometimes make mistakes. I make mistakes, players make mistakes, I think that is part of our job.'
Maresca noted his dissatisfaction with the excessive attention given to the offside goal after his team achieved an impressive victory despite being reduced to ten men after Phil Foden's red card in the first half. The Italian coach, who took over as manager after Pep Guardiola in June, reminded reporters of a controversial incident during his time as Guardiola's assistant in the 2022/23 season.
At that time, Bruno Fernandes' goal was counted despite Marcus Rashford being in an offside position in the United vs. Manchester City match at Old Trafford with a score of 2-1. Maresca reported that he is still awaiting an apology from the referees. 'Three years ago, when I was here, the same thing happened against Manchester United,' said the former Chelsea coach. 'We lost the derby there. The goal was not a normal goal, if you remember. Honestly, no one apologized. We are still waiting for an apology for that goal. Sometimes it happens to you, sometimes it happens against you. That's football.'
Maresca dismissed the question of whether he was satisfied with the absence of VAR in the early rounds of the League Cup, refocusing attention on Sunday's victory. 'I am satisfied with the incredible play of the players on Sunday,' he stated. 'I am very happy about that. Speaking of the moment after that game, when we played 70-75 minutes with ten men, I think it is quite weak. I believe the game was incredible.'