Pro Ref, the refereeing body, has admitted an error in the use of VAR during Sunday’s Manchester derby, after Manchester City’s winning goal was allowed to stand.
Erling Haaland scored the only goal as Manchester City defeated Manchester United 1-0, with the goal initially ruled out for offside by referee Michael Oliver before VAR intervened and overturned the decision.
The decision has since come under scrutiny because Manchester City’s Enzo Fernandez was in an offside position and appeared to interfere with United defender Lisandro Martinez while attempting to play the ball. Fernandez made a diving attempt to head the ball but did not make contact before Haaland eventually scored.
Pro Ref said a review of the incident would be conducted after determining that Fernandez’s position should have been given greater consideration.
The refereeing body said Fernandez did not play the ball, making the determination of whether an offside offence occurred a subjective decision.
However, it acknowledged that the VAR official failed to properly assess the likely impact of Fernandez’s position on the defending United players.
“It was established that Enzo Fernandez did not play the ball and therefore that makes any offside offence subjective,” Pro Ref said.
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“However, on this occasion, the VAR did not recognise the likely impact of his position and should have recommended an on-field review.”
The organisation added that it had contacted Manchester United to acknowledge what it considered an error of judgement and confirmed that the incident would be reviewed.
Manchester United coach Michael Carrick had earlier described the decision to allow the goal as “worrying”. Carrick questioned how Fernandez could be deemed not to have interfered with play despite making an attempt to reach the ball close to goal.
“I can’t understand how we are trying to help referees – putting so many layers behind them, so many people, so many bodies, so many screens and so many offices, to try to come up with the right decisions,” Carrick said.
He argued that Fernandez’s attempt to play the ball, despite not making contact, should have been considered interference.
Carrick said the interpretation of the rule was particularly concerning if a player could throw himself at a ball close to goal without being considered to have interfered with play.
Haaland joked after the match that he had “taken it a bit personally” when Oliver initially ruled him offside. The Norwegian striker said he looked towards Fernandez and Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola after the decision was overturned and became confident that the goal would stand. “I looked over to Enzo, the gaffer… he gave me a thumbs up and I kind of knew that it was a goal,” Haaland said.
He added that he had already started preparing himself to celebrate once he realised the goal had been awarded.
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville also expressed confusion over the decision. Neville said he would need the offside law explained to him because he could not understand why the goal had been allowed to stand. “I do think when they look back on this, they will recognize they got it wrong,” he said.
He also suggested that Oliver and the other officials could be concerned about the decision following the controversy surrounding the goal.
Despite playing with a numerical disadvantage for much of the match, Manchester City held on for a 1-0 victory. City were reduced to 10 men in the 23rd minute when Phil Foden was sent off for kicking Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes.
United were unable to take advantage of the numerical advantage and suffered defeat in the derby. The result left Manchester United with four points from their opening four Premier League matches, adding further pressure on the team as the season progresses.
The controversy over Haaland’s goal is now set to receive further scrutiny following Pro Ref’s decision to review the incident.
Sky news
