Overview
- Manchester City beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford with Erling Haaland’s 60th-minute goal winning the match after Phil Foden was sent off in the 23rd minute.
- Professional Game Referees (Pro Ref) acknowledged an “error of judgement” and said the VAR team should have asked the on-field referee to review whether offside-positioned Enzo Fernández interfered with the play.
- VAR checked Haaland’s position and cleared him, but officials say they failed to fully scrutinise Fernández’s movement that may have affected Lisandro Martínez’s recovery, a matter governed by IFAB’s offside rules about interference.
- The result stands while Pro Ref conducts a review and has informed Manchester United, and the decision has intensified scrutiny of Premier League VAR protocols and how on-field reviews are triggered.
- Bookmakers ran high-profile promotions around the derby, including Sky Bet’s 50/1 sign-up offer for Haaland to have a shot, but those commercial offers do not affect the match outcome or the referees’ review.