VAR Error in Manchester Derby: Howard Webb Speaks Out

Howard Webb has admitted VAR made a major error in Sunday’s Manchester derby – and never even checked whether Enzo Fernandez was offside for Erling Haaland’s controversial winner.

Speaking on the first episode of this season’s “Match Officials Mic’d Up”, the head of the Premier League’s refereeing body Pro Ref did not try to soften the blow. He called the mistake “really disappointing” and confirmed VAR Matt Donohue and his assistant Blake Antrobus will not take charge of games again until after the international break.

Controversial Goal

Haaland thought he had settled the derby at Old Trafford on the hour mark, sweeping in at the back post. The on-field officials initially ruled the goal out for offside.

Then came the check.

Semi-automated offside technology showed Haaland was three centimetres onside from Josko Gvardiol’s cross. With that, the decision flipped: goal given, City ahead.

But a different offside offence, the one that has dominated the fallout, went completely unnoticed in the booth.

Fernandez, in a central position and clearly involved in the phase, dived towards the ball and drew the attention of the Manchester United defence. Lisandro Martinez, who had been tracking Haaland, peeled away to try to intercept the ball aimed at Fernandez. That movement left Haaland free at the far post to score.

To many watching, Fernandez’s involvement looked like classic offside interference.

Expert Opinions

Wayne Rooney did not hold back on Match of the Day, saying: “To not see that and recognise that Enzo Fernandez was in an offside position... anyone who has played the game at any level understands that and to get it so wrong is baffling.”

The Mic’d Up audio lays bare how it happened. At no point did Donohue or Antrobus discuss whether Fernandez was offside or affecting play. Their attention locked onto one thing: Haaland’s line.

“The VAR gets super-focused on Haaland,” Webb explained, revealing he had already shared the audio and video with Manchester United. “He establishes he’s onside, he thinks that’s a good goal.

“He doesn’t truly evaluate the full impact of Fernandez’s position. He has a look to see if he touches the ball, because then that relates to potentially knocking it to Haaland, who goes on to score.

“In that moment, he gets tunnel vision. It’s down to the rest of his team to pull him out of that tunnel, and unfortunately, that didn’t happen on this occasion.”

The check became narrow and mechanical: confirm Haaland’s onside, confirm whether Fernandez touched the ball, restart. The wider question – is Fernandez, from an offside position, interfering with opponents? – never came.

“What looks like a really clear subjective offside, because Fernandez doesn’t touch the ball but still clearly impacts the play, doesn’t get identified, and it’s really disappointing,” Webb said.

“This goal should’ve been disallowed. And highly unfortunately, it wasn’t, and we’ll review it, reflect upon it, and try to take the learning forward to prevent this unusual type of error from happening again.”

The derby is done. The table will not change. The real test now is whether the officials’ “tunnel vision” does.