Every word VAR said to Michael Oliver about controversial Erling Haaland goal vs Man Utd

The full audio of Michael Oliver’s conversation with VAR has been revealed after Erling Haaland’s wrongly awarded winning goal for Manchester City against Manchester United – and it makes for enlightening listening.

United gained a huge advantage in Sunday’s highly controversial Manchester derby after Phil Foden was shown a straight red card for a petulant kick out at Bruno Fernandes midway through the first half.

But ten-man City dug deep and took the lead on the hour-mark through Haaland, who steered the ball home beyond Senne Lammens from the tightest of angles to silence Old Trafford.

The 60th-minute strike was initially disallowed, with Haaland seemingly stood in an offside position as Josko Gvardiol swung a deflected cross into the Norwegian’s path from the left flank.

However, video assistant referee Matt Donohue overruled Oliver’s decision upon closer inspection as replays showed that United full-back Patrick Dorgu had kept Haaland onside with an outstretched right boot.

What Donohue and his team overlooked, though, was the impact City summer signing Enzo Fernandez had on the goal from an offside position in the middle of the box.

The Argentine had clearly interfered with play by drawing in fellow countryman Lisandro Martinez while making a diving header for the ball, leaving Haaland unmarked at the back post.

Pro Ref, formerly PGMOL, subsequently acknowledged that an ‘error of judgement’ had been made in awarding what proved to be the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory for City, last year’s runners-up in the Premier League.

‘Following the incident in the 60th minute of Sunday’s Premier League fixture between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford, we can provide clarification regarding Erling Haaland’s awarded goal,’ the statement from Pro Ref, formerly PGMOL, 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.’

The statement from Pro Ref continued: ‘Contact has been made with Manchester United this evening to acknowledge what we deem is an error of judgement.

‘A review of the incident will take place.’

Forty-eight hours on and the Premier League have lifted the lid on exactly what was said between the officials involved that paved the way for an incorrect decision being made.

The frantic interaction was unveiled in its entirety on the latest instalment of Match Officials Mic’d Up, which was first introduced back in the 2024/25 season, and can be watched in full here.

Featuring on the programme alongside Michael Owen, a ‘disappointed’ Howard Webb admitted VAR had failed to assess the offside offence by Fernandez for the goal.

‘I was really disappointed with this outcome. We all are,’ referees’ chief Webb said.

‘None more so than the officials themselves. They take a lot of personal pride in what they do and they’re obviously hurting now, having fallen short in this situation.

‘They’ll not be officiating again until after the international break.’

Webb added: ‘The VAR gets super-focused on Haaland,” said Webb, who had already been in contact with Manchester United to share the VAR audio and video.

‘He establishes he’s onside, he thinks that’s a good goal.

‘He doesn’t truly evaluate the full impact of Fernandez’s position. He has a look to see if he touches the ball, because then that relates to potentially knocking it to Haaland, who goes on to score.

‘In that moment, he gets tunnel vision. It’s down to the rest of his team to pull him out of that tunnel, and unfortunately, that didn’t happen on this occasion.’

Facing the media shortly after United’s latest setback, Michael Carrick urged his squad to put their disappointment in the past, despite feeling aggrieved over Haaland’s winner.

‘We’ve got two games coming up this week, and it’s part of it, moving on quickly,’ the United head coach told reporters.

‘We haven’t got as many points as we would have liked at this point, for sure. There’s no getting away from that.

‘But we don’t need the international break or a restart. We’ve just got to move on and get winning again.’

United defender Martinez, meanwhile, admitted he was struggling to ‘control’ his emotions when asked about the goal in the immediate aftermath of the derby.

He [Haaland] was there. I went to him because he was there in front of me, so that’s why Haaland was free at the back,’ he said in his post-match interview with Sky Sports.

‘I want to control myself now but it’s so hard. It’s so hard because you lose. You lose a derby, you lose three points at home.

‘Every season, they come to our club and there are discussions about the rules. Then, after, five or six people make this kind of mistake in the Premier League.

‘I say this because it’s the best league in the world. You have the best teams in the world, the best players in the world, and now we have to go home with this injustice.

‘It’s difficult because I had two players there and Haaland was behind. I was 50-50 and I had to take the first guy in front. So if he’s not there, you go to Haaland. It’s as simple as that.’

Sunday’s result meant United have picked up only four points from the four opening matches in the English top flight, leaving the club languishing down in 13th in the table.

The Red Devils return to action at home to Brighton this evening before switching their attentions back to Premier League matters with a trip to Fulham on Sunday afternoon.

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