Inside the VAR error that decided the Manchester derby
Manchester City beat Manchester United 1-0 in the Premier League on Sunday after video assistant referee Matt Donohue and assistant Blake Antrobus failed to spot an offside before awarding Erling Haaland's winning goal.
The incident unfolded in the Manchester derby and has drawn sharp criticism amid the Premier League's stated aim of a "more efficient application of VAR to reduce delays" this season and calls from stakeholders — managers, coaches and supporters — for quicker decisions. The urgency in the VAR room was audible: "Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go!" Donohue's voice was described in the report as rushed during the review.
Donohue and Antrobus did not identify that Enzo Fernandez was three yards offside before he tried to head the ball; the goal was given and City secured a 1-0 victory. During the review Donohue told the replay operator "final decision is goal, check complete", a declaration made one second after Antrobus said quietly, "no, yeah."
The VAR team initially stopped the video at the first replay when Josko Gvardiol touched the ball to cross into the area, then moved immediately into the semi-automated offside technology rather than assessing the full sequence from the cross to Haaland's header. The article states that assessing the full picture would have shown Fernandez's position and impact; by focusing on whether Fernandez touched the ball, the officials created a new phase of play that made Haaland offside.
The support VAR in the operations room at Stockley Park, who can intervene on points of protocol, was aware of the review and took no action, and the piece says the situation could still have been corrected between the goal being scored and the restart. The analysis also notes Antrobus was AVAR in the season's only other lengthy VAR delay, the Brentford v Sunderland game where Dan Ballard's goal was ruled out for a subjective offside against Kevin Danso and the review took over four minutes.
Refuge for the officials' position was voiced by City boss Enzo Maresca, who said: "To make a decision in 10, 20 seconds is not easy for them," adding, "Sometimes they make mistakes. I make mistakes, players make mistakes. It's part of our job." The article reports Howard Webb as saying "VAR did not even consider if Fernandez was offside - Webb" and also notes that season-on-season average VAR delays have fallen from 46 seconds per game to 36 seconds.
Background on the VAR workforce is outlined: Pro Ref ran recruitment three seasons ago with aptitude tests, about 15 candidates reached the final stages and 10 have officiated in the Premier League, including Donohue, who has acted as video official 65 times and was appointed to Uefa club competition qualifying ties over the summer. The piece adds that only two VARs — Nick Hopton and Neil Davies — have a clear record over the last two seasons, both graduates of the same accelerated programme, and that full-time VARs Lee Mason and Mike Dean were dismissed by Webb a few months into his tenure because of a catalogue of errors; it also observes that Spain's La Liga and second division operate with officials who only act as VARs but still face controversy.
Pro Ref will have questions to answer over its processes and why a VAR rushed a review in one of the biggest games of the season. The article contrasts this with a West Ham stoppage-time equaliser against Arsenal ruled out last season, where the VAR review took over four minutes and reached the correct outcome.