Maresca says VAR row overshadowed City's 10-man derby win
Enzo Maresca thinks football missed the real story in the Manchester derby.
Manchester City beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford. Erling Haaland scored the only goal on the hour mark. Maresca, City's manager, said it was "quite poor" that a row over VAR, football's video review system, drowned out his side's performance BBC Sport.
City won anyway. They played most of the derby with 10 men after Phil Foden was sent off in the 23rd minute for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes. Maresca put it at 70-75 minutes with 10 players, holding on in a loud away end.
Haaland's winner lived a double life. It was first ruled out on the pitch for offside, when an attacker is beyond the last defender too early. VAR then judged Haaland himself was onside and the goal was given.
That call was later ruled wrong. The problem was not Haaland. It was team-mate Enzo Fernandez, who was in an offside position and judged to be interfering with opponents. Howard Webb, chief of refereeing body Pro Ref, admitted VAR had not considered whether Fernandez was offside before Haaland scored.
Maresca did not deny the mistake. He acknowledged a VAR error had occurred and described it as "part of football". His point was about balance. A team down to 10 men had gone to Old Trafford, stayed organised, scored and kept a clean sheet.
The result was City's fourth successive league win. It has kept Maresca's start moving smoothly after he succeeded Pep Guardiola as City manager in the summer. He was speaking before City's Carabao Cup third-round tie against Norwich City on Thursday.
United saw it differently. Michael Carrick, United's manager, was unhappy with the match officials over the decision to award Haaland's goal BBC Sport.
What makes this stand out is how both things can be true at once. City earned a hard, disciplined derby win. United have a genuine grievance over a goal that should not have stood. For fans, this means the debate will run on, even as City take the points and move on to the cup.
