Haaland's strike on the hour mark secured a 1-0 win at Old Trafford despite Manchester United playing the majority of the match with 10 men following Phil Foden's red card, but the aftermath of City's fourth straight league win has been dominated by the fallout from a VAR error later confirmed by the referees' body.
Speaking ahead of Thursday's Carabao Cup tie against Norwich City, Maresca made clear his frustration at the focus on the incident rather than his side's display.
"Talking about one episode or one moment after that game when we played for 70 to 75 minutes with 10 players, I think it's quite poor," Maresca said.
"I think the performance was unbelievable, and I'm pleased with the performance."
Haaland's goal was initially ruled out for offside before a VAR review found the striker marginally onside, only for it to later emerge that officials had failed to identify an offside offence by Enzo Fernández, who interfered with play by diving at the ball in a central position moments earlier. Maresca was unapologetic about the outcome, pointing to previous decisions that had gone against City.
"There is knowledge that there was a mistake and that's all. Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes against you. It's football," Maresca said. "Three years ago when I was here as Guardiola's assistant, it happened the exact same against United. The goal was not a regular goal and no one apologised. We are still waiting for the apology for that."
Pro Ref chief Howard Webb has since admitted officials failed to properly assess Fernández's impact on the passage of play.
"I was really disappointed with this outcome. We all are," Webb said on Match Officials Mic'd Up. "None more so than the officials themselves. They take a lot of personal pride in what they do and they're obviously hurting now, having fallen short in this situation."
Webb explained how the officiating team's attention had narrowed too quickly onto Haaland's own position rather than the wider passage of play. "The VAR gets super-focused on Haaland," he said.
"He establishes he's onside, he thinks that's a good goal. He doesn't truly evaluate the full impact of Fernández's position. He has a look to see if he touches the ball, because then that relates to potentially knocking it to Haaland, who goes on to score."
Manchester City will look to move past the controversy against Norwich in the Carabao Cup on Thursday, before returning to league action away to Sunderland the following Sunday.