Maresca Defends VAR Officials After Man City Benefit From Error

Maresca said mistakes were part of football and urged critics not to allow the controversial decision to overshadow what he described as an impressive performance from his players.

Manchester City secured all three points at Old Trafford on Sunday through Erling Haaland’s second-half goal. The striker’s effort was initially ruled offside but was overturned following a VAR review.

However, refereeing body Pro Ref later acknowledged that the decision was incorrect. While Haaland was in an onside position, officials failed to properly consider the involvement of City player Enzo Fernandez, who was in an offside position and was judged to have interfered with play. Pro Ref said the VAR should have recommended an on-field review.

Speaking ahead of City’s League Cup meeting with Norwich City, Maresca defended the officials and said the speed at which VAR decisions have to be made makes their job difficult.

“Sometimes they go for you, sometimes they go against you,” Maresca said, adding that officials sometimes have only 10 to 20 seconds to make important decisions.

The Italian also argued that the controversy had received too much attention compared with City’s overall performance.

Manchester City played with 10 men for more than an hour after Phil Foden was sent off in the first half following an incident involving Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes.

Despite being a player down, City held on to claim their fourth consecutive Premier League victory under Maresca.

Maresca also recalled a controversial Manchester derby from 2023, when he was part of Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff. Manchester United scored through Fernandes despite Marcus Rashford being in an offside position during the move.

According to Maresca, City never received an apology for that decision.

He maintained that officiating errors can happen to any team and said the focus should also be on the effort and resilience shown by his players during Sunday’s victory.