VAR Blunder in Manchester Derby: Howard Webb's Admission

Howard Webb has admitted VAR made a major blunder over Erling Haaland’s controversial winner in the Manchester derby – and revealed Enzo Fernandez’s offside position was never even checked.

Speaking on the first episode of this season’s Match Officials Mic’d Up, the Premier League’s chief refereeing officer did not try to dress it up.

“I was really disappointed with this outcome. We all are,” Webb said, confirming that VAR Matt Donohue and his assistant Blake Antrobus will not take charge of games again until after the international break.

Derby flashpoint

The incident came on 60 minutes at Old Trafford. Haaland peeled away at the back post, met Josko Gvardiol’s cross and thought he had scored the only goal of a tight derby.

The flag went up. On the field, the goal was ruled out for offside.

Then came the familiar pause. VAR checked the decision and, using semi-automated offside technology, ruled that Haaland was actually onside by three centimetres from Gvardiol’s delivery. The on-field decision was overturned and the goal stood.

Within seconds, the debate started.

Replays showed Fernandez, in a central position, had dived towards the ball from an offside position, drawing defenders and clearly impacting how Manchester United tried to defend the cross. Lisandro Martinez initially tracked Haaland, then shifted across to deal with the danger from Fernandez, leaving the City striker free at the back post.

The key question: how did VAR not see that?

‘Tunnel vision’ on Haaland

Webb’s answer was blunt. The officials locked onto the wrong thing.

“The VAR gets super-focused on Haaland,” he said. “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 Mic’d Up audio confirmed it. At no point did Donohue or Antrobus discuss whether Fernandez, from an offside position, interfered with an opponent. Their only concern was whether Fernandez had got a touch that would create a new phase and possibly affect Haaland’s status.

What they missed was the subjective, but central, question: did Fernandez’s movement from an offside position affect the defenders and therefore the play?

For Webb, the answer is clear.

“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.

This goal should’ve been disallowed. And highly unfortunately, it wasn’t.”

Anger and fallout

Reaction was immediate and fierce. On Match of the Day, former England striker Wayne Rooney voiced what many inside Old Trafford had felt in real time.

“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,” he said.

Webb revealed he had already been in contact with Manchester United to share the VAR audio and video from the incident, an unusual step that underlines how seriously the refereeing body views the mistake.

He also stressed the human cost inside the officials’ room.

“None more so than the officials themselves,” Webb said of the disappointment. “They take a lot of personal pride in what they do and they’re obviously hurting now, having fallen short in this situation.”

Donohue and Antrobus will now be taken out of the firing line until after the international break, as Pro Ref reviews how such a basic aspect of offside law was overlooked in a game of this magnitude.

Webb’s promise is familiar but pointed: the incident will be “reviewed, reflected upon,” and used as a case study to prevent “this unusual type of error” from happening again.

The derby is over. The debate around VAR, and how it failed to spot Fernandez’s role in one of the season’s biggest calls, is very much not.