Pro Ref has taken the VAR officials who managed the Manchester derby out of duty until after the international break, the referee body said, following a finding that the key decision was an error of judgment. The ruling responds to how a 60th-minute strike at Old Trafford, first ruled out for offside, was later reinstated after review. Semi-automated offside technology placed Erling Haaland three centimetres onside, but attention centred on Manchester City midfielder Enzo Fernandez, whose position and movement appeared to impede Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez.

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Howard Webb, Pro Ref’s chief refereeing officer, said he was deeply disappointed by the way the VAR team handled the sequence and blamed what he called tunnel vision. "The VAR gets super-focused on Haaland. He establishes he is onside but when he runs it through full APP he doesn’t truly evaluate full impact of Fernandez," Webb said. He added, "In that moment, he gets tunnel vision. It’s down to rest of team to pull him out of that tunnel." Webb concluded the goal should not have stood.

Pro Ref accepted the mistake in its own account, saying VAR failed to recognise the likely impact of Fernandez and should have recommended that referee Michael Oliver conduct an on-field review. The officials involved in the incident were VAR Matt Donohue, assistant Blake Antrobus, on-field referee Michael Oliver and fourth official Paul Tierney.

Manchester United figures reacted strongly after the match. Manager Michael Carrick described the decision as worrying, and Martinez said Fernandez’s positioning affected his defending, adding, "I went to him because he was in front of me. That’s why Haaland was free at the back." Martinez called the collective error in the Premier League unacceptable and described the outcome as an injustice.

Webb also defended the decision to send Phil Foden off in the same match and judged Bruno Fernandes’ kick as "more petulant than violent," saying it merited a yellow card rather than a red. Pro Ref said it will carry out a full review of the derby incidents and confirmed the VAR team will not be assigned to matches until after the international break.