VAR Official Removed After Haaland Derby Decision
The VAR at the centre of the decision to allow Erling Haaland’s winning goal in the Manchester derby has been removed from Premier League duty for the coming weekend.
Matt Donohue, who led the video review that overturned the on-field offside call at Old Trafford, has not been appointed to any top-flight fixture on the next round of games. His assistant VAR that day, Blake Antrobus, has also been left off the list.
Pro Ref, English football’s refereeing body, had already admitted an “error of judgement” in how the incident was handled during Manchester City’s 1-0 win over Manchester United.
This will be the first Premier League matchweek of the season in which Donohue, 37, plays no part. He had previously worked VAR duties on Brighton & Hove Albion’s opening-day victory over Aston Villa, Sunderland’s win against Fulham and Newcastle United’s draw with Bournemouth. He is also not involved in this week’s Carabao Cup ties.
The decision to stand him and Antrobus down was taken by Pro Ref’s chief refereeing officer Howard Webb and the organisation’s management team. The pair will not return to appointments until at least after the upcoming international break.
Match Incident
At Old Trafford, Haaland’s second-half strike was initially ruled out for offside. The Norwegian appeared beyond full-back Patrick Dorgu, while Enzo Fernandez was also in an offside position as he lunged towards the cross. The on-field team chalked the goal off.
The pressure came from the VAR booth. After a check, Donohue advised that Haaland was onside and that Fernandez, though offside, had not played the ball. The decision was overturned and the goal stood — the only one of the game.
On Sunday evening, a Pro Ref spokesperson accepted that the VAR team had misread the situation, saying Donohue “did not recognise the likely impact of his (Fernandez’s) position and should have recommended an on-field review”.
The body contacted Manchester United to acknowledge what it described as an error and confirmed that a formal review of the incident will be carried out.
Premier League regulations state that “a player will be penalised if they are clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent”. Fernandez, in that phase of play, was being closely tracked by Lisandro Martinez. The United defender’s focus on Fernandez left Haaland free at the back post.
During the match, the Premier League match centre explained the call in real time: “VAR checked the referee’s call of no goal for offside – and determined that Haaland was in an onside position and recommended that the goal was awarded. The VAR also deemed that while in an offside position, Fernandez didn’t play the ball.”
The review now moves behind closed doors. The question that lingers over the league is simple enough: how many more high-profile weekends can afford this kind of mistake?
