The Premier League's key match incidents panel have provided an independent assessment on the Manchester derby incident involving Bruno Fernandes and Phil Foden
Bruno Fernandes looking dejected after a Manchester United match
The Premier League's KMI panel believe Bruno Fernandes avoided a yellow card following his incident with Phil Foden in the Manchester derby(Image: Phil Oldham/Shutterstock)
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The Premier League's Key Match Incidents (KMI) Panel has backed the decision to send off Phil Foden in the Manchester derby. The England star was controversially dismissed for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes during Manchester United's narrow defeat to their city rivals, though two members of the panel felt Foden deserved a yellow instead.
Fernandes, 32, also should have been cautioned for his altercation with the Manchester City player, the panel felt. However, they unanimously supported referee Michael Oliver's decision not to show the Manchester United captain a red card.
Five members make up the KMI panel, including three former players or coaches, with one representative each from the Premier League and Professional Game Referees (Pro Ref).
The panel have provided independent assessments on five KMIs from the Manchester derby. Starting in the 22nd minute, they unanimously supported Oliver's decision not to award United a penalty for Enzo Fernandez's challenge on Youri Tielemans after determining that he won the ball.
Twenty seconds later, Foden was sent off. It is the only on-field decision that split the panel 3:2 across all Premier League matches in gameweek four, highlighting the incident's controversial nature.
They ultimately supported the decision to award a red card for violent conduct. However, the two panellists who did not believe it was correct felt Foden's actions lacked the requisite force to reach the threshold.
All five, though, believe that the decision by video assistant referee Craig Pawson was correct. They were equally unanimous when it came to Fernandes, feeling he should not have been sent off, but shown a yellow card instead.
The panel also unanimously agreed that the VAR intervention to award City their winning goal was incorrect. They felt that Fernandez was offside and attempting to play the ball while it was close to him.
That thereby impacted Lisandro Martinez and Senne Lammens' ability to play the ball. They believe a VAR review should have been recommended for a missed subjective offside.
Erling Haaland in action
Erling Haaland's controversial winner was allowed to stand(Image: Getty Images)
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Hours after the match, a Pro Ref spokesperson clarified that "the VAR did not recognise the likely impact of (Fernandez's) position and should have recommended an on-field review." They also contacted United "to acknowledge what we deem is an error of judgement."
Pro Ref chief Howard Webb later admitted on Mic'd Up that the goal should have been disallowed and "felt it was important that we acknowledged an error in the situation." He added: "I was really disappointed with this outcome; we all were."
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The fifth and final KMI they assessed was a penalty not awarded to Fernandez after an off-the-ball altercation with Harry Maguire. They all unanimously agreed with the on-field decision and the lack of VAR intervention.
The panel said: "The referee's call of no penalty for a challenge by Maguire was supported as correct."
Overall, they were unanimous in supporting three on-field decisions and four VAR interventions. The panel were equally unanimous in feeling that the winning goal that Erling Haaland scored was incorrectly allowed, while being split 3:2 in favour of Foden's red card.