VAR Error Confirmed: Haaland's Derby Winner Should Have Been Ruled Out

Football's uneasy relationship with VAR was thrust back into the spotlight this week after officials admitted that Erling Haaland's decisive goal in Manchester City's 1-0 derby victory should never have stood. The confession came on Sunday night when Pro Ref confirmed that video assistant referee Matt Donohue had erred in allowing the goal, with Enzo Fernández occupying an offside position during the build-up to Haaland's match-winning strike. Writing for The Guardian, former official Chris Foy described it as a disappointing outcome on a big decision — and suggested that nobody would feel the sting more acutely than Donohue himself. So where did it all go wrong? When a VAR analyses a goal, the process begins at the moment the ball hits the net and works backwards through the attacking sequence. Here, when Haaland scored, the assistant referee raised his flag for offside. Donohue automatically reviewed that on-field call, deploying the semi-automated system, which determined that Haaland himself was onside. On that basis, the original decision was overturned and the goal awarded. The critical oversight, however, concerned Fernández's position earlier in the move — the detail that ultimately rendered the goal invalid. Yet Foy urged perspective amid the inevitable backlash. Donohue, he stressed, is only human, and mistakes at this level, however painful, remain part of the game. More broadly, he argued that referees have made an encouraging start to the season, with officials largely delivering strong performances in the opening weeks. For the defeated side, though, the honesty of the admission will offer little comfort. A derby decided by a single goal that, by the officiating body's own account, should have been chalked off is a bitter pill to swallow. Margins this fine can shape points totals, local bragging rights, and even title challenges. The episode also renews scrutiny of the semi-automated offside technology. While the system correctly identified Haaland's position, the failure to fully audit the attacking move exposed a gap between what the technology can detect and how officials apply it in practice. As the season unfolds, Pro Ref will face mounting pressure to tighten review protocols and restore faith in the process. For Donohue, the road to redemption begins with the next assignment — because in modern football, the spotlight on every decision, aided or otherwise, never dims. Source: Guardian Football (Chris Foy)