Overview
- Erling Haaland’s finish was initially ruled offside before VAR overturned the call to award the goal that decided Manchester City’s 1-0 win at Old Trafford while City played with ten men after Phil Foden’s first-half red card on Sunday.
- Hours after the match, Pro Ref said the VAR team ‘did not recognise the likely impact’ of Enzo Fernández’s offside position and called the award an ‘error of judgement.’
- Pro Ref said it has contacted Manchester United to acknowledge the mistake and will carry out a review of the incident while the 1-0 result will remain in the record.
- Manchester United coach Michael Carrick, defender Lisandro Martínez and several pundits publicly criticised the decision and questioned the consistency of how VAR interprets offside at high-profile matches.
- Under the Laws of the Game a player can be offside without touching the ball if their position interferes with an opponent’s ability to play the ball, and the admission increases pressure on referees and the VAR process to clarify how that interference is judged.