Okay, so you saw that Manchester Derby, right? The 1-0 win for Manchester City over United at Old Trafford? Well, get this: the refs are actually admitting they blew it on Erling Haaland’s game-winning goal. Seriously, Professional Game Referees, Pro Ref for short, straight-up acknowledged an “error in judgment” from VAR.
The Offside that VAR Missed
The whole thing went down in the 60th minute. Josko Gvardiol whipped in a cross from the left, and it took a wild turn off a defender. On the field, they initially flagged Erling Haaland offside. But then VAR steps in, does its thing, and suddenly, they’re saying the Norwegian was onside. That’s where it all went sideways, though. See, the real problem was Enzo Fernandez. He was clearly offside when that cross came in, and he surged right at the ball, trying to head it past United keeper Senne Lammens. Fernandez didn’t even touch it, sure, but his movement? That’s the kicker. Red Devils defender Lisandro Martinez was stuck covering Fernandez, and he’s out there saying he wouldn’t have been if Fernandez hadn’t gone for the ball. Now, rewatching it, that claim feels a bit shaky, but whatever. The main point is, Haaland was left wide open to slam that ball past Lammens, and that was the lone goal of the game.
Pro Ref’s Apology and What It Should Mean
Pro Ref dropped a statement a few hours before the game, if you can believe it, saying VAR should have told head referee Michael Oliver to go take a look himself, an on-field review. And get this: they’ve actually reached out to Manchester United to apologize! Talk about a mea culpa, right? A spokesman for Pro Ref even clarified through Sky Sports that while Haaland’s on-field offside call was overturned by VAR, the “likely impact” of Fernandez’s offside position wasn’t recognized. They messed up, plain and simple. They’re calling it an “error of judgment,” and yeah, no kidding. The VAR official just didn’t get how much Fernandez’s offside position impacted the play, even without touching the ball. They should’ve sent Oliver to the monitor, no doubt.
So, where do we go from here? Pro Ref has to actually follow through on this “review of the incident.” This isn’t just about one goal, it’s about the standard of officiating in these massive games. Fans deserve better than game-winning goals being decided by “errors in judgment” that should have been caught. Let’s hope this review actually leads to something real, because nobody wants to see a derby decided like this ever again.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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