Maresca Hits Back at Haaland Goal Debate After Controversial Manchester Derby Moment

Enzo Maresca, the Manchester City boss, has described the focus on Erling Haaland’s controversial goal in last weekend’s Manchester derby as ‘Quite Poor’ after his team put up a solid performance. City’s team was down to 10 men for most of the game after Phil Foden got a red card early in the game.

He was sent off the field for committing a foul on Bruno Fernandes. However, the entire attention of the post-game was on Haaland’s winner as they registered a 1-0 win. The Refereeing Body Pro Ref later admitted that there was an error of judgement made in allowing the Norway international’s goal to stand despite his teammate Enzo Fernandez being offside and interfering with the play as he lunged forward for the ball.

This incident has once again brought the VAR system under scrutiny for its accuracy and it attracted fierce criticism of the technology and the official responsible for the mistake. Maresca expressed his sympathies for the officials, however, about Wednesday's incident he said, “It is not easy for the VAR and the people in front of the screen. To make a decision in 10, 20 seconds is not easy for them. Sometimes they make mistakes. I make mistakes, players make mistakes. It’s part of our job. It is also complicated for them. There is knowledge that there was a mistake and that’s all.”

He drew comparison to another Manchester Derby at Old Trafford when he worked as an assistant to former City boss Pep Guardiola. A few years earlier, in January 2023 United won 2-1 with Fernandes scoring an equaliser despite his teammate Marcus Rashford being in an offside position.

Maresca said, “Three years ago when I was here it happened the exact same way against Manchester United. The goal was not a regular goal and no one apologised. We are still waiting for the apology for that.Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes against you. It’s football.”

Speaking about City’s League Cup match against Norwich on Thursday, the former Chelsea boss tried to put the focus back on how City held out for a win playing most of the game with only 10 men. He said, “To talk about one moment after that game when we played for 70, 75 minutes with 10 players is quite poor. I think the performance was unbelievable and I'm pleased.”