Erling Haaland’s goal for Manchester City against Manchester United should have been disallowed because team-mate Enzo Fernandez was offside, Pro Ref has confirmed, despite the decision being overturned by VAR during Sunday’s Manchester derby.
The goal was initially ruled out for offside against Haaland. A review correctly established that the striker had been played onside by Manchester United defender Patrick Dorgu, but failed to account for Fernandez’s position as he attempted to play the ball before it reached Haaland.
Pro Ref, the organisation for professional match officials formerly known as PGMOL, described the decision to award the goal as “an error of judgement”. Its statement said the VAR “did not recognise the likely impact of his position”.
That explanation has left a central question unanswered: how was Fernandez’s involvement not considered significant when he was six yards from goal, diving towards the ball between two opponents?
Why was Haaland’s goal awarded?
The most likely explanation is that the VAR became focused on whether Fernandez had touched the ball. Match Centre stated during the match that, although Fernandez was in an offside position, he had not played it.
Replays also appeared to show the VAR team examining whether Fernandez had made contact with the ball as it travelled across the six-yard box. However, the offside law allows a player to be penalised without touching the ball if he interferes with an opponent or impacts play.
Fernandez’s position also affected Manchester United goalkeeper Senne Lammens, who reacted as if anticipating a header and was left off balance before Haaland struck. United defender Lisandro Martinez had already been affected by Fernandez’s presence, meaning the goal should have been disallowed regardless of the goalkeeper’s reaction.
The on-field decision was therefore both correct and incorrect in different respects. Haaland was onside, so the original call against him was wrong, but the goal should still have been ruled out because of Fernandez’s offside position.
Because the original decision was made against Haaland, the VAR could not simply replace the reason for the disallowance with Fernandez’s offence. Pro Ref said referee Michael Oliver should instead have been asked to conduct an on-field review and decide whether Fernandez had interfered with play.
The VAR for the match was Matt Donohue, assisted by Blake Antrobus. Donohue has refereed four Premier League matches and was VAR for 24 Premier League games during the 2025/26 season, as well as assistant VAR for six.
The Premier League is using semi-automated offside technology this season, which provides a kick-point graphic for incidents under review rather than the manually drawn crosshairs and lines used previously. That is why television viewers did not see the traditional offside lines during the check.
Another issue raised by the incident concerns added time. Haaland scored after 59 minutes and 24 seconds, while play did not restart until 63 minutes and 15 seconds following the review. Despite that delay and other stoppages in the half, only five minutes were added on.
