VAR's Blunder: Howard Webb Admits Mistake on Haaland's Goal

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

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) chief was speaking on the first edition of this season’s ‘Match Officials Mic’d Up’ when he dissected the incident that has dominated the fallout from Sunday’s game at Old Trafford.

Tunnel vision on Haaland

Haaland thought he had settled the derby on the hour mark, arriving at the back post to turn in Josko Gvardiol’s cross. The assistant’s flag went up, and on the field the goal was initially ruled out for offside.

In the VAR booth, though, Matt Donohue and his assistant Blake Antrobus quickly overturned that decision. The semi-automated offside technology showed Haaland was onside by three centimetres from Gvardiol’s delivery, and the goal was awarded.

That was only half the story.

Replays immediately highlighted Fernandez, who had dived towards the cross in a central position. His movement dragged Lisandro Martinez away from Haaland, who had been the defender’s original mark, leaving the Manchester City striker free to score.

The key question: was Fernandez offside and interfering with play?

According to Webb, the VAR team never seriously asked it.

"I was really disappointed with this outcome. We all are," Webb said. "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."

He confirmed Donohue and Antrobus will not officiate again until after the international break.

Offside not even considered

The audio from the VAR review, played on ‘Mic’d Up’, revealed that Donohue and his team locked onto one element of the move – Haaland’s position – and effectively ignored the wider picture.

"The VAR gets super-focused on Haaland," Webb explained. "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 VAR checked only whether Fernandez had made contact with the ball, which would have created a new phase of play and potentially a separate offside against Haaland. When they concluded Fernandez had not touched it, they cleared the goal – without assessing whether his offside position and movement interfered with opponents.

For Webb, that is where the process collapsed.

"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. 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."

Rooney: ‘Baffling’ error

The decision has been hammered by former players and pundits. On Match of the Day, Wayne Rooney did not hold back.

"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 former England striker said.

Supporters have echoed that sentiment, questioning how a full VAR team, armed with semi-automated offside technology and multiple angles, could miss what many consider a straightforward interference offence.

Webb has already been in touch with Manchester United to share the VAR audio and video from the incident. The admission is blunt, the consequences for the officials immediate, and the scrutiny on VAR as intense as ever.

The technology did its job on Haaland’s position. The humans running it did not do theirs on Fernandez.