Enzo Maresca has explained why City refused to simply shut up shop after Phil Foden was sent off in their 1-0 Manchester derby victory at Old Trafford.
Foden’s red card after 23 minutes left City facing most of the game with ten men and forced Maresca to abandon the plan he had taken into his first Manchester derby as manager.
United twice hit the woodwork, through Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo, but City continued to carry a threat rather than retreating completely towards their own penalty area.
Maresca explains City’s approach
“We tried to defend well, but also to keep some threat in transition with Erling [Haaland], Antoine [Semenyo] and Iliman [Ndiaye],” Maresca said. “Because if you just defend with ten players around the box, then probably it becomes more difficult.”
That threat remained, and Haaland eventually scored the only goal on the hour, although the decision to allow it following a VAR check has subsequently become another major talking point from the derby.
Maresca felt the sending-off had changed the task for United too, with the home side forced to take greater responsibility for making the game.
“We had a plan for 11 vs 11, but after the red card, the game completely changed, but also for them,” he said. “They like to counter-attack, and in that moment we were defending, so they had to attack.”
City inevitably spent long periods without the ball, but Maresca resisted the temptation to immediately sacrifice his attacking threat for another defender.
Nico O’Reilly was eventually introduced late on as City protected their lead, with Haaland’s goal enough to secure a fourth Premier League win from four.
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