Manchester United told Haaland winner should have been disallowed

Manchester United have received official confirmation from Pro Ref that Erling Haaland’s winning goal for Manchester City in Sunday’s derby at Old Trafford should not have stood.

Haaland settled the match in Manchester City’s favour with a 1-0 victory, placing the ball into the far corner of the net. However, Enzo Fernandez, who was in an offside position, moved towards the ball as it travelled to Haaland and attempted to head it.

That movement attracted the attention of Manchester United defenders Lisandro Martinez and Senne Lammens.

The Premier League’s official website initially explained why the goal had been awarded.

“At 59 minutes: Erling Haaland scores to put Manchester City ahead, but the assistant referee raises his flag to indicate that the Norway international was offside,” it said.

“VAR reviewed the referee’s decision not to award the goal for offside and determined that Haaland was in an onside position, recommending that the goal be awarded.”

It added: “VAR also considered that, although Enzo Fernandez was in an offside position, he had not played the ball.”

However, several hours later, Pro Ref, chaired by Howard Webb, issued a statement acknowledging that Fernandez’s involvement had affected Manchester United’s defenders and that the goal should therefore have been disallowed.

“Following the incident in Sunday’s Premier League match between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford, we would like to clarify the decision concerning the goal credited to Erling Haaland,” a Pro Ref spokesperson said.

“The initial on-field decision was that Erling Haaland was offside. This was reviewed by VAR and it was determined that he was in an onside position.”

The spokesperson continued: “During the same attacking move, it was confirmed that Enzo Fernandez did not touch the ball, meaning the decision on whether an offside offence had occurred was a matter for the referee’s judgement.

“However, in this case, VAR did not recognise the potential impact of Fernandez’s position and should have recommended that the on-field referee review the decision.”

The statement added: “Manchester United were contacted this evening to acknowledge what we consider to be an error of judgement, and the incident will be reviewed.”

The decision to award the goal had already been criticised by Spanish refereeing analysis network Archivo VAR, which described it as a refereeing farce.