The body responsible for officiating in English football has conceded that Erling Haaland’s decisive goal should have been disallowed during Manchester City’s contentious 1-0 victory against ten-man Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Professional Game Match Officials—commonly known as PGMOL or Pro Ref—issued a candid statement hours after the final whistle, acknowledging a significant error in judgment by the Video Assistant Referee team. The organisation has since reached out to Manchester United to formally apologise for the oversight, noting that the VAR room should have advised on-pitch referee Michael Oliver to review the incident personally on the sideline monitor.
The controversy unfolded around the sixtieth minute of a fierce derby. Joško Gvardiol swung a cross in from the left flank, which took a slight deflection off a nearby defender. The initial reaction from the officials was to raise the flag for offside against Haaland, yet a subsequent VAR check established that the Norwegian striker had actually timed his run legally from an onside position.
The crux of the issue lay elsewhere. As the ball came across, Enzo Fernández was standing in an offside position and made a dynamic darting movement towards the six-yard box, attempting to get a head to it and bypass United goalkeeper Senne Lammens. Fernández ultimately never made contact with the ball, which drifted past him to a completely unattended Haaland who slotted it home.
Manchester United defender Lisandro Martínez immediately protested, arguing that his positioning and reaction were compromised by Fernández lunging for the ball. While video replays left the exact degree of that interference open to debate, the governing body chose to look squarely at the technology’s failure. A spokesperson for Pro Ref explained that while Fernández did not technically play the ball—leaving the decision subject to interpretation—the VAR officials failed to properly assess the potential visual and physical impact of his offside position on the defensive line.
Stung by the setback in a high-octane fixture, United find themselves counting the cost of a narrow defeat against a reduced City side. Pro Ref has confirmed that a full internal review will now be conducted to examine how the sequence was handled in Stockley Park, leaving yet another bruising mark on the ongoing debate surrounding Premier League officiating.
