Brentford manager Keith Andrews has said that it is ‘pretty alarming’ after Manchester City were awarded a controversial winning goal against Manchester United in the Premier League.
The Red Devils suffered their second defeat of the league campaign after a 1-0 loss to the Cityzens at Old Trafford last weekend. Erling Haaland scored the winner at the hour mark, but the goal should have been ruled out.
The assistant referee had initially flagged Haaland for offside, but VAR overruled the decision, given the Norwegian was on after Patrick Dorgu’s subsequent touch from Josko Gvardiol’s cross.
However, VAR refused to acknowledge that Enzo Fernandez was clearly in an offside position and interfered with play before the ball fell into Haaland’s path to find the back of the net.
Speaking after Brentford’s 2-1 win over Reading in the Carabao Cup third round, Andrews was asked about the officiating at the weekend where Man City were handed an undeserved winner.
The Bees boss acknowledged that it is ‘pretty alarming’ and a ‘shame’ that VAR could not spot that Fernandez was clearly offside, he said (via BBC Sport): “It’s pretty alarming. The first thing was whether [Erling] Haaland was offside and then obviously [Enzo] Fernandez was. It’s a shame.”
United were not at their best against the Cityzens at Old Trafford on Sunday. They struggled to create many clear-cut chances. Their best scoring opportunity fell to Bryan Mbeumo in the final seconds of the derby, but he was denied by an exceptional save from Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Despite this, it can’t be denied that the momentum shifted after Man City’s fortunate goal in the 60th minute. United started the second half as the better side, but the Cityzens scored out of the blue when it was crystal clear that Fernandez was interfering with play from an offside position.
His presence caused Lisandro Martinez and Senne Lammens to lose focus on Haaland. The pair can’t be blamed in any way, given they had to concentrate on the first target from Gvardiol’s cross. ProREF have since apologised for the error, but United ought to be disappointed by the outcome.
The Red Devils eventually lost a point, but things could have been different at 0-0. Alongside United, league leaders Arsenal should be frustrated by the result too, given Man City are only goal difference behind them when they should have been a couple of points behind instead.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com