Manchester United have received detailed comments on the officiating blunder that cost them dearly in the Manchester derby.
Man United suffered a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City at Old Trafford last weekend after Erling Haaland scored a highly controversial winner.
Pro Ref chief refereeing officer Howard Webb says VAR Matt Donohue suffered from “tunnel vision” during the key moment.
He said on the Premier League Mic’d Up series: “We felt it was important that we acknowledged an error in this situation. We know that Erling Haaland, who was penalised on-field for offside, wasn’t in an offside position.
“But we also know that Enzo Fernandez, who was in an offside position, almost certainly interfered with the Manchester United defence and probably the goalkeeper as well.
“The VAR gets super-focused on Haaland. He establishes he’s onside. He thinks that’s a good goal. Haaland’s not offside, as was thought initially.
“But of course, when he then runs it back through the full app, he doesn’t truly evaluate the full impact of Fernandez’s position. He has a look to see if he touches the ball, because then that relates to potentially knocking it to Haaland, who goes on to score.
“He [Fernandez] doesn’t touch the ball, but he [the VAR] doesn’t truly evaluate other elements of offside. In that moment, he gets tunnel vision.
“He gets focused on Haaland, and it’s down to the rest of his team to pull him out of that tunnel, and unfortunately, that didn’t happen on this occasion.”
Embarrassing explanation from Howard Webb
Haaland was flagged offside by the assistant referee almost immediately after finding the back of the net.
The assistant referee was wrong but that was understandable, given that a touch from Patrick Dorgu was barely visible to the naked eye.
VAR correctly intervened to overturn the original decision but what happened next was the real source of United’s frustration.
Enzo Fernandez was clearly standing in an offside position and then threw himself across the box in an attempt to head the ball, missing it by just a few centimetres.
Lisandro Martinez had to cover Fernandez as the midfielder was in his line of sight.
Haaland subsequently received the ball at the far post before firing past goalkeeper Senne Lammens to give City the lead.
Fernandez did everything he could to influence the play without making contact with the ball, yet VAR seemingly failed to properly assess his involvement.
Webb has now offered a bizarre explanation for the failure, blaming the incident on “tunnel vision.”
Referees can make mistakes, but this was an inexcusable error that ultimately left United with just four points from their opening four games.
The Red Devils will now face Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham before the October international break.
Failure to produce positive results in either of those games could pile even more pressure on Carrick.
The Premier League is one of the most watched competitions in world football, and its officiating standards must reflect that global status.
Making a major error is one thing, but failing to spot it even after having the privilege of watching multiple replays from different angles is simply unacceptable.