The Referees Committee Admits Error in Calculating City's Goal Against Manchester United

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) acknowledged that the decision to award the winning goal scored by Norway’s Erling Haaland in Manchester City’s 1-0 victory over local rivals Manchester United in the fourth round of the English Premier League was a “judgment error.”

City were playing with ten men after Phil Foden was sent off for kicking Portuguese midfielder Bruno Fernandes, when Haaland scored the match’s only goal in the 60th minute, following up on a close-range finish from a cross by Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol.

Initially, the goal was disallowed for offside against Haaland, but the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) later overturned the decision, despite Manchester City’s Argentine midfielder Enzo Fernandez being in an offside position and attempting to reach the ball before the Norwegian striker.

Since Fernandez did not touch the ball, the goal was allowed, enabling Haaland to celebrate his ninth league goal in Manchester derby matches.

After the goal, the English Premier League Match Centre posted on social media that the VAR “considered Haaland to be in an onside position” and believed that “Fernandez, despite being offside, did not play the ball.”

However, the PGMOL later clarified that the VAR “did not appreciate the potential impact” of the Argentine midfielder’s position, and that he “should have recommended a review of the incident on the side screen.”

The statement added, “We communicated with Manchester United this evening to acknowledge what we consider a judgment error. An review of the incident will be conducted.”

After the match, Manchester United manager Michael Carrick said it was “disturbing” that the refereeing team concluded Haaland’s goal was valid.

Argentine defender Lisandro Martinez was the most involved United player in the controversial incident.

Martinez said he was clearly affected by the presence of his national team teammate Fernandez in front of him, describing City’s goal as “injustice.”

Speaking to Sky Sports, he said, “I moved toward him because he was in front of me. That’s why Haaland was free behind,” adding, “It is unacceptable for five or six officials to make this kind of mistake in the Premier League.”

He continued, “We leave feeling this injustice.”