Former Liverpool defender and well-respected football analyst Jamie Carragher has described the decision to award Erling Haaland's controversial winning goal for Manchester City against Manchester United as profoundly flawed, sharply criticising the VAR team for their singular concentration on the Norwegian.
The goal, scored at Old Trafford, was initially ruled out by the linesman for offside. However, after a lengthy review by the VAR officials, the on-field decision was overturned.
The video assistants concluded that United's defender, Patrick Dorgu, was on the same line as Haaland and not in an offside position. Yet, at the same moment, City's midfielder, Enzo Fernandez, was in an evident offside position and actively attempting to play the ball in the penalty area before it reached the forward.
Carragher firmly believes that the officiating team displayed shocking shortsightedness by focusing solely on the geometry of Haaland's position, completely ignoring the significant impact of Fernandez's positioning on the play:
This is a gross mistake. We all look at this incident, and visually it appears to be a clear offside. Haaland seems offside, although according to the lines, he isn't. But when you start breaking down the moment in detail, you clearly see the subpar level of the officiating crew.
It creates a strong impression that they became obsessed with proving Haaland was in the right position. Due to this fixation, they failed to delve into the details of Fernandez's location in the penalty area and did not assess his direct influence on that goal.
This incident ultimately decided the outcome of the Manchester derby, and the Pro Referee committee later officially acknowledged the ruling as a poor judgement call, subsequently sidelining the VAR officials for the upcoming round of matches.
