A contentious VAR call has come under fire following confirmation that Erling Haaland's decisive goal in Manchester City's 1-0 win over Manchester United should not have stood.
Professional referee organization Pro Ref acknowledged that video assistant referee Matt Donohue erred in allowing the goal to count, despite Enzo Fernández occupying an offside position during the buildup. Former Premier League referee Chris Foy broke down the sequence of events that led to the mistake.
According to Foy, the review process began at the moment Haaland struck the ball into the net, with officials working backward through the phases of play. The assistant referee had initially raised his flag for offside against Haaland, prompting an automatic VAR check. Using semi-automated offside technology, the system determined Haaland was in fact onside, and the goal was awarded on review.
However, Foy explained that the VAR's analysis should not have stopped there. Earlier in the passage of play, Fernández — himself in an offside position — challenged for a crossed ball with a diving header while being marked by Lisandro Martínez. Foy argued this moment required a two-part evaluation: whether Fernández made a genuine attempt to play the ball, and whether his action impacted Martínez's ability to defend the cross.
"In this case, the answer to both questions was yes," Foy stated, concluding that the goal should have been ruled out. He suggested Donohue simply failed to identify the offense committed by Fernández, adding that while the error is regrettable, it reflects the human element inherent in officiating rather than a systemic failure. Foy maintained that referees have generally performed well across the season's 39 matches, citing improved handling of holding offenses, goal-kicks and throw-ins as evidence of progress.
The same United fixture produced additional controversy when Phil Foden was sent off following a physical exchange with Bruno Fernandes. Foy described how Fernandes had initially provoked Foden by nudging him with his toe, an act the analyst characterized as unsporting behavior worthy of a yellow card had referee Michael Oliver witnessed it. Foden's response — driving his studs into Fernandes' midriff — was deemed violent conduct under the laws of the game, which define such offenses as excessive force or brutality against an opponent not competing for the ball.
Foy distinguished between the two incidents, arguing that while Foden's action met the threshold for violent conduct, Fernandes' earlier provocation did not involve comparable force or brutality. He noted that Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca had publicly agreed that Foden's dismissal was the correct outcome, even though the initial provocation went unpunished.
A separate refereeing decision drew attention the previous day when Sunderland were awarded a penalty against Arsenal. Referee John Brooks pointed to the spot after Dan Ballard and Ezri Konsa both went down in the box, with Konsa appearing to grab hold of Ballard while focused on his opponent rather than the ball. VAR official Stuart Attwell reviewed the call to assess whether a clear and obvious error had occurred.
Foy noted that despite some shirt-pulling from Ballard as well, the overall picture did not present the clear and obvious error threshold required for VAR intervention. Attwell's decision to uphold the penalty was deemed correct, with Foy emphasizing that the same standard would have applied had no penalty been given — the incident simply fell into the category of decisions that VAR is not designed to overturn.
Based on reporting from Guardian Football (Chris Foy).