Refereeing Body Apologises to Manchester United Over Manchester Derby VAR Decision

The Premier League’s refereeing body has reportedly apologised to Manchester United after acknowledging an error in the decision to allow Erling Haaland’s winning goal during Manchester City’s 1–0 victory at Old Trafford.

Haaland scored in the 60th minute after connecting with a deflected cross from Joško Gvardiol at the far post. The assistant referee initially flagged the forward for offside, but the decision was overturned following a VAR review.

VAR officials Matthew Donohue and Blake Antrobus reportedly ruled that City midfielder Enzo Fernández had not played the ball and was not sufficiently interfering with the action.

However, the refereeing body later acknowledged that Fernández’s position may have affected the play and that the VAR team should have recommended an on-field review.

A statement attributed to the organisation said Haaland had been in an onside position but added that the officials had failed to properly assess the potential impact of Fernández’s position.

The organisation reportedly contacted Manchester United to acknowledge what it described as an error of judgement and confirmed that the incident would be reviewed.

United manager Michael Carrick had criticised the decision as “worrying”, while defender Lisandro Martínez described it as an “injustice”.

The result gave Manchester City a narrow victory in the derby and kept the club among the teams with a perfect start to the Premier League season. Manchester United, meanwhile, were left with one win, one draw and two defeats from their opening four matches.