Erling Haaland’s winning goal in Manchester City’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United has reignited debate about VAR after refereeing chiefs admitted an error of judgment, raising questions about why Premier League results are not changed when major mistakes are discovered after a match.
Erling Haaland scored the winning goal in the 60th minute after the assistant referee initially flagged him offside.
The goal was reviewed by VAR and eventually awarded after officials determined that Haaland had been kept onside by Manchester United defender Patrick Dorgu.
The controversy, however, centred on another City player, Enzo Fernández, who was in an offside position and moved towards the ball as it crossed the area.
Pro Ref, the body responsible for elite refereeing in English football, later admitted that the VAR decision was an “error of judgment” and said the incident should have resulted in an on-field review.
Despite the admission, Manchester City remain the winners, and the Premier League table will not be changed.
Why the Result Cannot Be Changed
VAR is designed to correct decisions during a match, not to reopen completed matches whenever an officiating error is discovered.
Under the International Football Association Board’s VAR protocol, the referee can review incidents involving goals, penalties, red cards and mistaken identity when the relevant conditions are met.
The on-field referee makes the final decision.
Once the match has ended, the Laws of the Game provide no mechanism for a referee or VAR official to award a different result because a decision made during the match is later found to be wrong.
This means Pro Ref’s admission does not give United a new opportunity to have Haaland’s goal removed and the match replayed or recorded as a draw.
The purpose of a post-match review is instead to examine what went wrong and improve future officiating.
The Premier League itself acknowledges that VAR cannot achieve decision-making perfection and that its purpose is not to eliminate every possible refereeing error.
The rule also protects the finality of football results.
If completed matches could routinely be overturned after officials later admitted mistakes, league tables, relegation battles, European qualification and title races could remain uncertain long after matches had finished.
Manchester City’s 1–0 victory therefore stands despite the refereeing body’s admission.
Why Haaland’s Goal Was Initially Allowed
The original offside flag against Haaland was overturned because semi-automated offside technology showed that the striker was onside.
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The Premier League explained that Dorgu’s extended foot put Haaland onside. The remaining question was whether Fernández, who was in an offside position, had interfered with an opponent.
VAR concluded that Fernández had not touched the ball and had not committed an offence that made him offside under Law 11.
Law 11 says a player in an offside position is penalised if he becomes involved in active play by:
- Interfering with play by playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a teammate.
• Interfering with an opponent by challenging an opponent for the ball, preventing an opponent from playing the ball, clearly attempting to play a nearby ball which impacts an opponent, or making an obvious action that clearly affects an opponent’s ability to play the ball.
The goal was therefore awarded.
The result gives City four wins from four league matches and 12 points, while United remain on four points after four games.
The latest controversy adds to growing criticism of VAR, with clubs and managers continuing to question some decisions despite the technology being introduced to reduce clear errors.
The Premier League has responded by publishing weekly reviews of key refereeing decisions, including cases where VAR should have intervened but did not.
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