Pro Ref Admits Error in Haaland's Offside Goal
The fallout from Manchester City's derby win at Old Trafford has moved from the pitch to the referees' room, with Pro Ref admitting it made a mistake in allowing Erling Haaland's decisive goal to stand.
Just hours after City's 1-0 victory over Manchester United, the refereeing body contacted United to acknowledge what it called an "error of judgment" and confirmed that VAR "should have recommended an on-field review" of the 60th-minute strike.
On the pitch, the assistant's flag initially went up. Haaland was ruled offside. Then VAR stepped in, overturned the decision and awarded the goal, judging the striker to have been played onside by United defender Patrick Dorgu.
But the controversy never centred on Haaland.
The key flashpoint was Enzo Fernandez. The City midfielder stood in an offside position and moved to play the ball as it travelled across the box, before it reached Haaland at the back post. He never made contact. VAR focused on that. It proved a crucial mistake.
By law, he didn’t need to touch it.
Fernandez’s movement appeared to affect Lisandro Martinez’s defending as the United centre-back tracked the cross, with Haaland stealing in behind to score. Under the offside law, that should have been enough to keep the original offside call and rule the goal out.
Pro Ref: ‘Error of judgement’
In a detailed statement, Pro Ref laid out how the decision unfolded and where it went wrong.
"Following the incident in the 60th minute of Sunday's Premier League fixture between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford, we can provide clarification regarding Erling Haaland's awarded goal.
"The on-field decision was offside against Erling Haaland - that was checked by VAR and he was found to be in an onside position.
"In 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.
"Contact has been made with Manchester United this evening to acknowledge what we deem is an error of judgement. A review of the incident will take place."
So the process is clear: VAR checked the offside against Haaland, cleared it, and then effectively reduced Fernandez’s involvement to a question of whether he touched the ball. That narrow focus is what has now been condemned.
Match Centre explanation clashes with the law
The Premier League Match Centre had already tried to justify the decision in a post on X, writing:
"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 ball."
That line about Fernandez not playing the ball mirrored the TV replays, which repeatedly showed angles of whether he had made contact.
But the law does not stop at contact. It explicitly states that a player in an offside position can still commit an offside offence by interfering with an opponent, including by:
- preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing their line of vision, or
- challenging an opponent for the ball, or
- clearly attempting to play a ball that is close when that action impacts an opponent, or
- making an obvious action which clearly impacts an opponent’s ability to play the ball.
Fernandez’s movement, his attempt to play the cross and his position in front of Martinez, sits right in the middle of that debate. Pro Ref now accepts that this impact was not properly considered.
Neville’s warning proves right
Gary Neville saw the storm coming in real time.
On co-commentary for Sky Sports, the former United defender said the officials were "wrong" to award Haaland’s goal and predicted that Pro Ref would later admit as much.
"There is no doubt that Enzo is attempting to play the ball and putting Lisandro Martinez off," he told Sky Sports. "It's a really strange one. They'll recognise they got that wrong."
Pro Ref’s statement stopped short of using the word "apology", falling just under Neville’s exact prediction, but it did concede an "error of judgement" and confirmed a review.
On his podcast, Neville went even harder at the explanation posted by the Match Centre.
"I think they are ignoring the rule," he said. "They are digging themselves a bigger hole [with the Match Centre statement]. I'm really surprised they put that out.
"They will have to retract that."
‘Unacceptable’ – Martinez fumes at officials
Inside the United dressing room, the anger was raw.
Lisandro Martinez, the defender directly involved in the incident, did not hold back in his post-match interview with Sky Sports.
"Every season the officials come to our club and spend an hour explaining the rules and they look so confident with that," he said.
"Then after, five or six people [officials] doing this kind of mistake in the Premier League is unacceptable.
"We have to go home with this injustice."
For Martinez, United’s defensive line had done its job. The sense that they were punished for it only deepened the frustration.
Richards and Keane slam decision
Micah Richards, the former City defender, was equally scathing about the rationale behind the goal being given.
He dismissed the Match Centre’s focus on Fernandez not touching the ball as "a nonsense".
Asked on Sky Sports whether Fernandez was clearly attempting to play the ball, Richards was unequivocal: "One hundred per cent he is."
"I think it's been a bad day for referees and VAR.
"They got the Phil Foden decision wrong, and they got this decision wrong.
"How you can not say Enzo Fernandez is challenging for the ball - of course he is!
"I've been in that position as a defender where any slight movement can make the difference for going for the ball or not, so of course it affects him.
"I just think they've got it so wrong."
Roy Keane went straight to the heart of the offside debate.
"Fernandez is interfering with play," he said. "Basically, United have been punished for holding a good line. When you are in that position, you are impacting the game. You're in the middle of the box, you're going for the ball.
"Their line is good. Fernandez is offside, and he goes to play the ball, so United are getting punished for good defending."
One goal, one decision, and now one formal admission of error. The points stay with City, the defeat stays with United, and the laws of the game remain unchanged. The real test now is whether the next tight offside call in a title-shaping game is handled with the clarity this one so obviously lacked.
