Erling Haaland's winning goal in Sunday's Manchester derby came in controversial circumstances - and there are still a number of questions left unanswered. The striker's goal was initially disallowed for offside on the pitch before VAR overturned the decision. The VAR officials deemed that Haaland was played onside by Manchester United defender Patrick Dorgu.
However, Manchester City's Enzo Fernandez was in an offside position as he attempted to play the ball before it reached Haaland. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Here, we look at some of the key questions surrounding the incident... Pro Ref - the Professional Game Referees formerly known as the PGMOL or PGMO - confirmed on Sunday night that an error was made when City's winning goal was awarded.
While acknowledging "an error of judgement", their statement only offered a partial explanation for why the goal was mistakenly awarded. Having admitted the goal should have remained ruled out because Fernandez was offside, the statement declared: "On this occasion, the VAR did not recognise the likely impact of his position." But the overarching question of why the VAR failed to appreciate that a player six yards from goal, making a diving header for a ball between two opponents, was not judged to have either impacted play or potentially impacted play remains unanswered. This, currently, appears to be the most logical explanation.
In their mid-game post on X explaining the decision, Match Centre wrote: "The VAR also deemed that while in an offside position, Fernandez didn't play the ball." During Sky Sports' match coverage, replays were also shown of the VAR team apparently scrutinising whether or not Fernandez touched the ball as it flew across the six-yard box. So was it the case that the VAR became distracted by fixating on a technicality that didn't actually matter given the offside rule clearly stipulates that a player can be offside regardless of whether or not he touches the ball? According to Pro Ref, the initial offside decision was made against Erling Haaland.
The review then moved on to Fernandez, who was correctly deemed to be in an offside position by the VAR team. The problem was that they then apparently, and incorrectly, focused entirely on whether he touched the ball. What the VAR couldn't do, however, was confirm the goal was rightly ruled out - for the Fernandez offside - for the wrong reason - the Haaland offside.
Hence Pro Ref's assertion that the VAR ought to have requested referee Michael Oliver make an on-field review in which Oliver would have been asked to make a subjective decision on whether Fernandez impacted play. Replays of Haaland's goal also show that the Manchester United goalkeeper made an initial reaction to Fernandez, raising his arms in anticipation of a header and putting him off balance for when Haaland struck the ball. But Martinez had already been impacted by Fernandez's position, so the goal should have been disallowed regardless of whether Lammens was distracted by Fernandez's attempt to play the ball.
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