Overview
- Manchester City beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford when Erling Haaland's 60th-minute strike was awarded after a VAR check reversed an on-field offside decision.
- Hours after the match on Sunday, refereeing body Pro Ref said the VAR team made an 'error of judgement' by not asking the on-field referee to review Enzo Fernández's likely impact from an offside position.
- Pro Ref clarified that Fernández did not touch the ball but that his offside position and attempt to head the ball made the call subjective and should have prompted a pitch-side review.
- Manchester United figures, including interim manager Michael Carrick and defender Lisandro Martínez, publicly criticised the decision and questioned how multiple VAR layers failed to reach the right outcome.
- The admission will lead to a formal review of the incident and risks renewed debate over how the offside rule's 'interfering with play' test is applied and when VAR must force an on-field review.