Erling Haaland was initially flagged offside when he finished from close range following a Josko Gvardiol crossHere’s what exactly happened
Published: September 14, 2026, 11:59 AM IST
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The VAR offside screengrab (L)Manchester City players celebrating their win against Manchester United(Credits: ManCity/X)
The controversy surrounding Erling Haaland’s winning goal in the Manchester derby yesterday has taken another turn after Premier League refereeing body Pro Ref admitted that Video Assistant Referee made an error in allowing the goal to stand at the Old Trafford stadium.
Manchester City beat Manchester United 1-0 with Erling Haaland scoring the only goal of the gameHowever, the decision to award the goal became the main talking point after the final whistle.
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Haaland was initially flagged offside when he finished from close range following a Josko Gvardiol crossVAR then checked the incident and overturned the on-field decision, deciding that Haaland was in an onside position.
The problem was the involvement of City midfielder Enzo FernandezThe Argentine was in an offside position and moved towards the ball before Haaland eventually scoredFernandez did not make contact with the ball, and VAR decided that he had not interfered with play.
Pro Ref later admitted that the VAR officials failed to properly consider Fernandez’s position and its effect on the United defenceThe refereeing body said the incident should have led to an on-field review by referee Michael Oliver.
Pro Ref also contacted Manchester United to acknowledge what it called an error of judgment and said the incident would be reviewed.
The decision left United manager Michael Carrick frustratedHe questioned how a group of officials, with access to several replays, could decide that the goal should stand.
#MUNMCI – 59’ VAR OVERTURN
VAR checked the referee’s call of no goal for offside – and determined that Haaland was in an onside position and recommended that the goal was awarded.
The VAR also deemed that while in an offside position, Fernandez didn’t play the ballpic.twitter.com/TyTip3ACIh
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) September 13, 2026
United defender Lisandro Martinez was also unhappy with the decisionMartinez was close to Fernandez during the move and argued that the midfielder’s position affected his reaction to the crossHe said he moved towards Fernandez because of his position, which left Haaland with space at the far post.
“The on-field decision was offside against Erling Haaland – that was checked by VAR and he was found to be in an onside positionIn the same attack, it was established that Enzo Fernandez did not play the ball and therefore that makes any offside offence subjective, however, on this occasion, the VAR did not recognise the likely impact of his position and should have recommended an on-field review,” a Pro Ref spokesperson said.
“Contact has been made with Manchester United this evening to acknowledge what we deem is an error of judgementA review of the incident will take place,”
The VAR controversy came in a match that had already been affected by another major refereeing decisionCity were reduced to 10 men in the first half after Phil Foden was sent off for kicking out at Bruno FernandesDespite being a man down for more than an hour, City stayed in the game and eventually found the winner.
How Manchester City orchestrated the win with only 10 men?
City scored in the 60th minute when Haaland finished from close range after Gvardiol’s crossIt was Haaland’s ninth league goal in Manchester derbiesCity had to defend with 10 men after Foden’s red card, but they stayed organised and handled United’s pressure.
The moment that won the derby 🤩
🩵 @Erling pic.twitter.com/b0vq91xCf9
— Manchester City (@ManCity) September 13, 2026
United had chances with Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo hitting the post but could not scoreGianluigi Donnarumma also made important saves as City held on for a 1-0 win and maintained their perfect start to the Premier League season.
