Howard Webb Explains VAR Error in Haaland's Manchester Derby Goal

Howard Webb, England's chief refereeing officer, has admitted a VAR error in Erling Haaland's goal that secured Manchester City's derby victory over United. The linesman initially flagged the Norwegian for offside, but VAR intervened to award the goal, despite Enzo Fernandez being in an offside position and making a clear attempt to play the ball, thereby influencing Lisandro Martinez and Seny Lammens. Webb expressed his disappointment with the decision, explaining that the video assistant referees focused solely on Haaland's position and completely overlooked Fernandez's role, with their check on him limited to whether he touched the ball before Haaland.

"The on-field decision wasn't against Fernandez, but against Haaland. When VAR began its check, it showed Haaland was actually onside by three centimeters. VAR focused entirely on Haaland. It established he was in an onside position, but when reviewing the entire attacking phase of play (APP), it didn't fully assess Fernandez's influence. The VAR referee fell into a state of 'tunnel vision,' but the rest of the team should have pulled him out of it – something that unfortunately didn't happen in this instance. This goal should have been disallowed.

I was truly disappointed with this turn of events – we all were. Most of all, the referees themselves. They take their work to heart and are now suffering after not performing to standard in this situation. They will not officiate matches until after the international break.

We contacted Manchester United and admitted the error – as we always do when such things happen, although they are not frequent. We want to be transparent and open.

We provided the club with the audio and video footage to inform them of what occurred. We will analyze the situation to understand which elements of the workflow failed and led to the incorrect decision.

In this situation, as the ball travels across the pitch, we see Fernandez lunging towards it and getting very close. This impacts Martinez, who cannot step out and clear the ball. It likely also affects Lammens, who cannot commit to the ball as he otherwise would, or is preparing for a potential collision with Fernandez. His actions in an offside position influence the defense in several ways."