MANCHESTER UNITED have been told Erling Haaland’s winner in the Manchester derby should NOT have stood.
The Norwegian star handed Man City a 1-0 win at Old Trafford after slotting home at the back post.
But Enzo Fernandez, who was in an offside position, dived for the ball on its way to Haaland, drawing the attention of Lisandro Martinez and Senne Lemmens.
Now, a Pro Ref statement has indicated that Fernandez’s involvement DID influence Man United’s defence and the goal should not have stood.
A Pro Ref spokesperson said: “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.
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“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.”
Just earlier in the day, the Premier League had backed the decision to award the goal.
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The Prem statement read: “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.
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“The VAR also deemed that while in an offside position, Fernandez didn’t play the ball.”
But Gary Neville knew it was an error from the start and forsore this apology from the Pro Ref.
He told Sky Sports: “They have given the goal… I’m lost. I’m going to need the offside rule explained to me.
“The officials will be nervous about this goal.
“When they look back on this, they will recognise they got this wrong. The question is does Fernandez, who is offside, stop Martinez getting the ball? He does.”
Former referee Mark Halsey also told The Sun that they had got the major decision wrong. It seemed Pro Ref admitting the mistake themselves was all there was to wait for.
But of course, that does not help Manchester United and it does help Manchester City continue their perfect start to the season.