Manchester United were left carrying the grievance from Sunday’s derby after Manchester City’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford was settled by an Erling Haaland goal that should not have stood. The Premier League refereeing body later accepted that VAR had made a judgement error and apologised to United.
Manchester City derby goal admitted as refereeing error
Haaland’s 60th-minute winner was initially flagged offside on the pitch by referee Michael Oliver, before VAR official Matt Donohue overturned that part of the decision after checking the striker’s position with semi-automated offside technology.
That was not, however, the central issue in the move. Enzo Fernández was in an offside position as he went to challenge for the ball with his head, affecting United defender Lisandro Martínez’s defensive action. Fernández did not touch the ball, but his involvement should have prompted an on-field review.
Shortly before midnight, the refereeing body confirmed it had contacted Manchester United to acknowledge the mistake and said the incident would be reviewed.
- The on-field call had ruled Haaland offside.
- VAR decided Haaland himself was onside and allowed the goal.
- VAR judged that Fernández had not played the ball, making his possible offside involvement a subjective matter.
- The refereeing body said VAR had failed to recognise the likely impact of Fernández’s position on Martínez.
- An on-field review should therefore have been recommended.
Martínez and Carrick challenge the interpretation
United’s anger was immediate. Martínez said clubs are regularly given detailed presentations on the laws by Premier League officials, only for a group of match officials to make what he regarded as an unacceptable error.
“Every season Premier League officials come to our club and spend an hour explaining the rules,” Martínez said. “They appear very sure when they do it. For five or six people then to make this sort of mistake in the Premier League is unacceptable. We have to go home with this injustice.”
United manager Michael Carrick was equally troubled by both the original decision and its explanation. He argued that Fernández plainly had an influence on the play, even without a touch on the ball.
“It is worrying if that is how referees see the game,” Carrick said. “We try to help them make the right decisions, but if that is the interpretation of the laws, saying Enzo Fernández is not interfering with play is beyond me. I found it astonishing. I could not understand it when I saw it, and the explanation made it worse.”
Former players see a defender’s dilemma
Gary Neville had expected the decision to be revisited during the television coverage, calling the situation highly unusual. When the official Premier League Match Centre account initially published an image confirming Haaland’s onside position, Neville argued that it had missed the relevant point.
He said the post ignored the law concerning Fernández’s involvement and warned that the authorities were making the situation worse before eventually having to withdraw their position.
Micah Richards, a former Manchester City defender, also felt the officials had got the call wrong. He linked it to the decision not to show Phil Foden a straight red card, describing the afternoon as a poor one for the officials and VAR.
Richards said a defender can be affected by even the smallest movement from an offside attacker when deciding whether to attack the ball, and that Fernández’s presence therefore had a clear impact on Martínez.
For United, the admission does not alter the scoreline or return the lost derby points. It does, though, leave another uncomfortable entry in the season’s ledger for VAR: the technology identified Haaland’s position, but the wider football decision escaped it.
SEO Title: Premier League officials apologise to Manchester United after Haaland derby winner
Meta Description: Manchester United receive an apology after VAR failed to recognise Enzo Fernández’s impact in the build-up to Erling Haaland’s winning goal for Manchester City at Old Trafford.
