Premier League VAR officials Matt Donohue and Blake Antrobus have been stood down from this weekend’s fixtures following the controversial decision to allow Erling Haaland’s winning goal in Manchester City’s 1–0 victory over Manchester United.
The decision has triggered major debate over the interpretation of the offside law, with refereeing body Pro Ref admitting that an “error of judgement” was made during the VAR review.Donohue was the VAR at Old Trafford, with Antrobus acting as Assistant VAR.
Both officials have now been removed from Premier League duty for the upcoming round of fixtures, with their future appointments to be reconsidered after the international break.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Haaland’s 60th-minute finish initially appeared to be offside after he converted a Josko Gvardiol cross at the back post.The assistant referee immediately raised his flag and referee Michael Oliver disallowed the goal.
However, VAR Donohue reviewed the incident and determined that Haaland was actually onside, with Manchester United defender Patrick Dorgu’s boot playing him onside.That part of the decision was technically correct.The real controversy came from another Manchester City player involved in the attack, Enzo Fernández.
Fernández was in an offside position and attempted to play the incoming cross. Although he did not make contact with the ball, his movement brought him directly into the action and appeared to influence United defender Lisandro Martínez, who was also attempting to deal with the delivery.
THE TECHNICALITY BEHIND WHY THE GOAL WAS INITIALLY ALLOWED
Under the offside law, being in an offside position is not, by itself, an offence.A player becomes guilty of an offside offence if they become involved in active play, including by interfering with an opponent. That distinction became crucial at Old Trafford.The VAR team concluded that because Fernández did not touch the ball, he had not committed an offside offence.
Therefore, once Haaland was established to be onside, the goal was allowed to stand.But that interpretation missed the bigger question: Did Fernández’s action interfere with Martínez?
PRO REF later acknowledged that this should have been properly considered. The refereeing body said Fernández’s lack of contact with the ball made the question subjective, but the VAR should have recognised the likely impact of his position and movement and recommended an on-field review for Michael Oliver.That is why the incident has been described as an error of judgement, rather than simply a failure of the offside technology.
🚨 PRO REF ADMITS MISTAKE
Pro Ref has since contacted Manchester United to acknowledge the error and confirmed that the VAR team should have given Oliver the opportunity to make the final decision through an on-field review. The admission comes after United manager Michael Carrick expressed his frustration with the decision, arguing that Fernández’s attempted play was clearly relevant because Martínez had reacted to his presence.
Carrick questioned how a player could launch himself at a cross only a few yards from goal, influence the defender’s actions and still be considered not to have interfered with play.
OFFICIALS PAY THE PRICE
The decision has now resulted in immediate consequences for the VAR team.Matt Donohue and Blake Antrobus will not officiate in the Premier League this coming weekend, following the decision by PRO REF chief refereeing officer HOWARD WEBB and his management team.
The move is effectively a one week stand-down while the incident is reviewed, with their next appointments expected to be assessed after the international break.
For Manchester City, however, the controversy does not change the result. Haaland’s goal secured a dramatic 1–0 derby victory, despite City playing with 10 men for more than an hour following Phil Foden’s first-half red card.
For Manchester United, the frustration is that the decisive goal came from an incident where the initial offside call was overturned correctly for Haaland’s position, but the subsequent involvement of Fernández was not properly assessed.
The episode has once again placed VAR and the interpretation of the offside law under intense scrutiny and this time, the refereeing authorities themselves have admitted that the final decision was wrong.
