Wayne Rooney Tears Into VAR After Man City Goal as Refereeing Chiefs Admit ‘Error of Judgement’

Haaland appeared to have been flagged offside after finding the net around the hour mark, but a lengthy VAR review overturned the initial decision.

The technology showed that the Manchester City striker himself was in an onside position.

The controversy centred instead on Enzo Fernandez, who was in an offside position and made an attempt to play the ball without ultimately touching it.

A subsequent Pro Ref statement acknowledged that the VAR official should have recommended an on-field review after failing to recognise the impact of Fernandez's position.

For Rooney, that was difficult to understand.

Rooney delivers brutal VAR verdict

The former Manchester United captain was reacting on BBC's Match of the Day after the Pro Ref explanation was read out.

His response was emphatic.

"I'm just so sick of this VAR. I think it's horrendous."

Rooney argued that the incident should have been straightforward for anyone with an understanding of the game.

He added that the decision failed to account for the effect Fernandez's position and movement had on the Manchester United defence.

"To get it so wrong, it's just baffling."

Rooney's comments reflected the anger surrounding the decision, particularly given that the refereeing authorities subsequently acknowledged that VAR had made the wrong judgement.

Why Fernandez became the key issue

The central point of contention was not whether Haaland was onside.

VAR established that he was.

Instead, the question was whether Fernandez's offside position and attempt to play the ball meant he had interfered with an opponent.

Because Fernandez did not actually touch the ball, the Pro Ref explanation said the decision became subjective.

However, the organisation acknowledged that VAR failed to recognise the likely impact of his position and should have sent the referee to the monitor.

That admission has only added to the scrutiny surrounding the decision.

Danny Murphy explains the defensive impact

Former Manchester United midfielder Danny Murphy also examined the incident in detail on Match of the Day.

His argument was that Fernandez's movement affected multiple United players, even though he never touched the ball.

Murphy pointed towards Lisandro Martinez in particular.

Martinez was initially focused on Haaland, but Fernandez's run altered the situation and influenced the defender's positioning.

Murphy explained that without Fernandez making the run, Martinez could have remained with Haaland.

Instead, the United defender moved centrally in an attempt to deal with the threat, leaving Haaland with more freedom.

The former midfielder also highlighted the effect on goalkeeper Senne Lammens.

Fernandez's attempt to get on the end of the ball meant the goalkeeper initially had to prepare for a potential header.

When Fernandez failed to make contact, Lammens then had to adjust for Haaland's finish.

For Murphy, those movements demonstrated why Fernandez's presence could not simply be dismissed because he failed to touch the ball.

‘It’s a really bad one’

Murphy was equally critical of the decision.

He argued that Fernandez's involvement had an obvious effect on the players around him and that the goal should therefore have been disallowed.

"It's a bad one, it is a really bad one."

The analyst added that pundits will generally try to give officials the benefit of the doubt, but believed this incident was difficult to defend.

That view was strengthened by the subsequent Pro Ref admission.

Manchester United furious after controversial goal

Rooney and Murphy were not the only figures to criticise the decision.

Martinez, who was directly involved in the incident, subsequently described the decision as an "injustice".

United head coach Michael Carrick was also highly critical of the explanation given for allowing the goal.

Carrick described the reasoning as "staggering", underlining the frustration inside the United camp.

The reaction has therefore gone beyond the normal post-match debate over a marginal VAR decision.

The authorities themselves have acknowledged that the VAR official should have taken another look.

What Pro Ref admitted

The official explanation confirmed that Haaland was onside but accepted that Fernandez's position should have been given greater consideration.

The statement said VAR had established that Fernandez did not play the ball, making the offside offence subjective, but conceded that the official failed to recognise the likely impact of his position.

The key admission was that VAR should have recommended an on-field review.

That does not change the result, but it provides an official acknowledgement that the process should have produced a different intervention.

Why the controversy will not disappear quickly

VAR decisions involving subjective offside offences are always likely to attract debate, but this incident has an additional complication: the authorities have effectively accepted that the review did not go far enough.

For United, that will be little consolation.

The goal was allowed to stand, and the controversy has now become one of the major talking points from the Manchester derby.

For Rooney, the incident was another example of what he believes VAR has taken away from football.

And with the refereeing authorities themselves acknowledging an error of judgement, the argument over Fernandez's influence on the play is unlikely to disappear any time soon.