Pro Ref acknowledge ‘error of judgement’ in Erling Haaland’s winning goal against Man Utd | Football

Pro Ref has made contact with Manchester United to confirm that an ‘error of judgement’ was made in awarding Erling Haaland’s goal which steered Manchester City to a 1-0 victory at Old Trafford.

Haaland’s controversial strike on the hour-mark proved decisive as City continued their 100 per cent start with a fourth win from four in the Premier League this season.

The visitors were forced to dig deep after Phil Foden was shown a straight red card for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes in the first half – a decision which has divided fans and pundits alike.

But City stood up to the challenge and the result ensured Enzo Maresca’s men regained their place back at the top of the table alongside reigning champions Arsenal, who had won 2-0 away to Sunderland 24 hours earlier.

After the derby, a visibly irate Michael Carrick expressed his concern that Haaland’s 60th-minute effort had not been ruled out for Enzo Fernandez interfering with play when in an offside position.

Pro Ref have since admitted a mistake was made and confirmed that an on-field review should have been recommended for Fernandez’s role in the goal while competing for a header with Lisandro Martinez.

‘Following the incident in the 60th minute of Sunday’s Premier League fixture between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford, we can provide clarification regarding Erling Haaland’s awarded goal,’ the statement reads.

‘The on-field decision was offside against Erling Haaland – that was checked by VAR and he was found to be in an onside position.

‘In the same attack, it was established that Enzo Fernandez did not play the ball and therefore that makes any offside offence subjective, however, on this occasion, the VAR did not recognise the likely impact of his position and should have recommended an on-field review.’

United have received an official apology for the incorrect call and a formal review of the incident will be carried out in due course.

‘Contact has been made with Manchester United this evening to acknowledge what we deem is an error of judgement,’ the statement continued.

‘A review of the incident will take place.’

United’s derby-day disappointment means the club sit 13th in the Premier League table after picking up just four points from a possible 12 in their four opening matches.

The Red Devils lock horns with Brighton in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening before returning to top-flight action away to Fulham in a week’s time.

‘I’d like to think that they’re not concentrating and focussing on the refereeing decisions and they’re focussing on the work they need to do on improving their performance,’ Gary Neville said in the Sky Sports studio when asked what United should take away from their latest setback.

‘What you don’t want to do is give football players or anybody excuses. That’s it.

‘So they’ve got to go out there tomorrow, or whenever it is that they start training again, and begin to think about what happens when they go down to ten men again.

‘We can’t just run out of ideas, be complacent and not shift the ball quickly. I think Michael Carrick maybe will reflect upon the fact that he could have made changes earlier.

‘When you know for 20 minutes before half-time that it’s not going your way with 11 men, I think then [Benjamin] Sesko should have come on straightaway to be a bit more of a battering ram up top because it’s obvious it wasn’t quite working.

‘He made the substitution eventually after 67 minutes which only left Sesko with 25 minutes so things like that will be reflected on and analysed I’m sure. That’s what they’ve got to concentrate on.

Neville’s long-time team-mate and captain Roy Keane urged Carrick and his squad not to ‘panic’ despite their shaky start to the new campaign.

‘It’s been a poor start, no doubt about it. Today was a setback but I still think the players will react,’ the iconic former United captain said.

‘They’ve got a cup game during the week then they’ve got Fulham and those games are winnable on paper.

‘No, there’s certainly no need to panic but obviously the real challenge for Carrick and his staff, when he got the job permanently, people wanted a good start and he’s not had that.

‘No doubt there will be pressure after today’s game but I would say just keep your heads.’

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