Sunday’s Manchester derby produced one of the most contentious finishes of the Premier League season so far.
Manchester City won 1-0 at Old Trafford, but the result was overshadowed by two major refereeing flashpoints.
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The first arrived in the 23rd minute, when Phil Foden was sent off for violent conduct after kicking out at Bruno Fernandes.
Foden reacted after appearing to be caught by a kick from the United captain while on the ground, and referee Michael Oliver showed a straight red card following VAR confirmation.
The dismissal, City’s first Manchester derby red card since Bernardo Corradi in 2006, will see Foden serve a three-match ban.
The second, and more damaging, controversy came from City’s winning goal.
Erling Haaland’s strike was initially ruled out for offside on the pitch, only for VAR to intervene and award it after determining Haaland was played onside by Patrick Dorgu.
The decision infuriated Manchester United, who argued that Enzo Fernandez, standing in an offside position, had interfered with the ability of Lisandro Martinez and goalkeeper Senne Lammens to deal with the cross.
Pro Ref, English football’s referees’ body, later admitted the goal should not have stood as it did.
The organisation confirmed an “error of judgement” had occurred, saying VAR should have recommended Oliver review the incident on the pitchside monitor before the goal was awarded.
As a result, VAR official Matt Donohue and assistant VAR Blake Antrobus have both been left out of this weekend’s Premier League appointments, a decision taken by Pro Ref’s chief refereeing officer, Howard Webb.
Oliver himself has not been sanctioned.
Pro Ref’s assessment placed the error with the officials in the video hub rather than the man in the middle, and he has now been confirmed to referee Liverpool’s Matchweek 5 fixture away to Bournemouth on Sunday at the Vitality Stadium.
Stuart Burt and James Mainwarings are his assistants, with Simon Hooper as fourth official.
The appointment is unlikely to be welcomed at Anfield.
Liverpool have won just one of their last seven matches with Oliver as referee, a 1-0 victory over Burnley a year ago, and have since lost to both Manchester clubs with him in the middle: to United at Anfield last October and to City in the FA Cup in April.
He was also the VAR during Liverpool’s 3-0 defeat at Manchester City last season, when Virgil van Dijk had an equaliser wrongly ruled out for offside against Andy Robertson.
Oliver’s history with Liverpool also includes the fractious Merseyside derby at Goodison Park in February 2025, when both Everton goals were contested and Arne Slot and assistant Sipke Hulshoff were sent to the stands for their protests at full-time.
Liverpool head to the south coast off the back of a 0-0 draw with Fulham at Anfield, their third successive home stalemate, and sit sixth with six points from four games under new head coach Andoni Iraola.
Bournemouth, under fellow newcomer Marco Rose following Iraola’s summer move to Anfield, are still searching for a first league win after four matches, most recently a 2-2 draw with Brentford that made them the first side in Premier League history to lead in each of their opening four fixtures without winning any of them.
Rose’s side face a testing week, with a Europa League trip to Real Sociedad on Thursday sandwiched before Liverpool’s visit three days later.
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