Wayne Rooney has brutally hit out at VAR after Erling Haaland’s controversial winning goal in the Manchester derby
Wayne Rooney has labelled VAR as “horrendous” after officials allowed Erling Haaland’s goal in the Manchester derby to stand despite a clear offside. The Man City striker was initially flagged offside but replays showed he was behind Patrick Dorgu’s foot that was attempting to block the cross.
Enzo Fernandez, however, was offside and clearly made an attempt to head home before Haaland scored. Despite that, he did not touch the ball and the goal was subsequently given but his impact on Lisandro Martinez was not considered.
Pro Ref have since acknowledged that mistake and revealed that contact has been made with United. That has not stopped Rooney from laying into the officials for their final decision with the United legend left baffled by their opinion of what Fernandez was doing.
He said on BBC Match of the Day: “I’m just so sick of this VAR. I think it’s horrendous. All the emotion of the game, the energy which the game’s played with.
“And to not see that and recognise that Enzo Fernandez is in an offside position is… anyone who’s played the game at any level understands that and knows that he’s in an offside position. So to get it so wrong, it’s just baffling.”
Rooney gave that verdict after part of the official Pro Ref statement was read by lead presenter Mark Chapman which read: “The on-field decision was offside against Erling Haaland – that was checked by VAR and he was found to be in an onside position.
“In the same attack, it was established that Enzo Fernandez did not play the ball and therefore that makes any offside offence subjective, however, on this occasion, the VAR did not recognise the likely impact of his position and should have recommended an on-field review.”
Fellow pundit, Danny Murphy, had previously examined the goal in greater detail and outlined how Fernandez’s movement affected the United players attempting to defend the attack.
He said: “Haaland is proven to be onside, but Enzo Fernandez, he’s the one we all think is offside. And the reason is, Martinez has got Haaland – that’s his player, you can see him focused on him.
“If Enzo Fernandez doesn’t make this run, [Martinez] sticks with Haaland. But of course, as a defender, he gets back centrally to try and stop him scoring, which then means Haaland is free.
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“The second person it affects with this goal is the goalkeeper. You can see him ready for the header because Enzo Fernandez is trying to score, he doesn’t get a touch but then [Lammens’] arms are down [not] ready for the Haaland finish.
“It makes it so simple, and so obvious. But somehow, and we don’t really know how, they’ve missed the impact Enzo Fernandez has on the players around him which therefore means it should have been disallowed.
“It’s a bad one, it is a really bad one. Generally we try here to see them given the benefit of the doubt, but you can’t on this one, I’m afraid.”
Lisandro Martinez, who was directly implicated in the incident, has since branded the decision an “injustice”, while United’s head coach Michael Carrick referred to the justification for the goal being awarded as “staggering”.