MANCHESTER — Referees' chief Howard Webb has admitted VAR did not even consider whether Enzo Fernandez was offside for Erling Haaland's controversial winner as Manchester City beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford. Webb said he was "really disappointed" with the error by VAR Matt Donohue and assistant Blake Antrobus that allowed Haaland's 60th-minute goal to stand when it should have been disallowed.
Haaland thought he had scored the only goal of the game in the 60th minute, but it was disallowed on the field for offside. A VAR review using semi-automated offside technology found Haaland was three centimetres onside from Josko Gvardiol's cross and the goal was awarded. Webb, the Premier League refereeing body Pro Ref's chief refereeing officer, said the officials failed to identify a clear offside offence by Fernandez, who dived at the ball in a central position and interfered with opponents. "I was really disappointed with this outcome. We all are," Webb said on the first edition of 'Match Officials Mic'd Up' of the season. "None more so than the officials themselves. They take a lot of personal pride in what they do and they're obviously hurting now, having fallen short in this situation. They'll not be officiating again until after the international break."
The Mic'd Up audio revealed Donohue and Antrobus never evaluated Fernandez's position because they developed "tunnel vision" over Haaland. Webb explained: "The VAR gets super-focused on Haaland. 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." Webb added: "What looks like a really clear subjective offside, because Fernandez doesn't touch the ball but still clearly impacts [the play but] doesn't get identified, and it's really disappointing. This goal should've been disallowed." The error was compounded as Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez initially marked Haaland but moved to intercept the ball from Fernandez, leaving Haaland free at the back post. Former England striker Wayne Rooney said on Match of the Day that "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."
Webb also addressed the 23rd-minute red card shown to Phil Foden for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes, a decision that drew debate because Fernandes was not sanctioned for a similar act. Webb backed the dismissal, saying: "I agree with the red card for Phil Foden. He kicks out with force into the upper body of Bruno Fernandes." He contrasted it with Fernandes' action: "Now, when you look at the footage, there is that petulant kick by Bruno Fernandes into the backside of Foden. It is more petulant than violent. To be violent conduct, it has to have excessive force or brutality. When you look at that, particularly in full speed, it doesn't have those elements. So therefore, this would be a yellow card offence."
Webb said if Foden had not been sent off on the field but had been via a VAR review — as Aston Villa's Joao Gomes was at Brighton for a similar offence last month — Fernandes' yellow-card offence would also have been identified at the pitchside monitor. Webb, who had already been in contact with Manchester United to share the VAR audio and video, said the group will review and reflect to prevent the unusual error from happening again.