Manchester City’s controversial derby winner against Manchester United on Sunday should not have stood, refereeing body Pro Ref has confirmed.
Erling Haaland’s goal on the hour-mark earned the 10-man visitors a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford after Phil Foden was sent off early in the first half of the Premier League clash.
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Haaland was initially ruled to be offside when he tucked into Josko Gvardiol’s deflected cross from the left wing to put City ahead, before VAR intervened after a lengthy check to allow the goal to stand, deeming Haaland in line with Patrick Dorgu’s foot.
The angle of the initial TV replays appeared to show that Haaland was in an offside position at the back post, but the Premier League’s semi-automated offside technology proved that Haaland was in fact behind Dorgu.
Enzo Fernandez, however, was in an offside position and appeared to interfere with play by making a lunge to latch onto the ball. The Premier League Match Center said the fact Fernandez did not get a touch on the ball meant the goal was allowed to stand, something which challenging Man United defender Lisandro Martinez branded as an “injustice”.
Mere hours after the conclusion of the game, though, Pro Ref has admitted an “error of judgment” in awarding the goal.
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A Pro Ref spokesperson said: “Following the incident in the 60th minute of Sunday’s Premier League fixture between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford, we can provide clarification regarding Erling Haaland’s awarded goal.
“The on-field decision was offside against Erling Haaland – that was checked by VAR and he was found to be in an onside position.
“In the same attack, it was established that Enzo Fernandez did not play the ball and therefore that makes any offside offense subjective, however, on this occasion, the VAR did not recognize the likely impact of his position and should have recommended an on-field review.
“Contact has been made with Manchester United this evening to acknowledge what we deem is an error of judgment. A review of the incident will take place.”
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The rules of the game state that a player standing in an offside position will be penalized if they are:
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Preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision; gold
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Challenging an opponent for the ball; gold
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Clearly attempting to play a ball which is closed when this action impacts on an opponent; gold
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Making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball.
There was a strong argument that Fernandez put off Martinez, who was between Fernandez and Haaland at the back post. If Fernandez was not in the box, Martinez would have been expected to clear the cross, or goalkeeper Senne Lammens could have come to collect it.
Erling Haaland’s derby winner should not have stood, Pro Ref confirmed (Getty)
This is something that Martinez complained about after the match, telling Sky Sports: “He was offside. I went to (Fernandez) because he was there in front of me, and that’s why Haaland was free (to score). I want to be calm, I want to control myself but it’s so hard. Every season they come to our club, they explain the rules for an hour and a half, and they look so confident.
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“And then you have five or six people making this mistake. It’s unacceptable because this is the best league in the world. And now we have to go home with this injustice.”
Man United manager Michael Carrick was similarly left fuming at what he described as a “staggering” decision to give away the goal.
He said: “I’m confused. We put things in place in the game now. We have people in offices with all the screens for this decision. It’s more worrying about if that’s the interpretation of football now. If that’s the interpretation of not interfering in the game now, that’s really worrying for me. It’s a staggering explanation.
Michael Carrick was left smoking at the explanation to award the goal (Reuters)
“The decision isn’t going to change the season, but it’s had a major impact on the game. That decision wasn’t on us today. It’s up to us to create and score after that. We had moments. Of course it’s up to us to do that, but big moments in games like that have a big impact.”
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City were down to 10 men in the Manchester derby following Foden’s first-half red card for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes.
Haaland’s ninth league goal against United means the striker is now top scorer in the Manchester derbies in the Premier League.
