Haaland apologises to Premier League after crashing their broadcast with Old Trafford selfie

Erling Haaland offered a tongue-in-cheek apology to the Premier League after inadvertently photobombing their post-match broadcast at Old Trafford on Sunday, following Manchester City’s 1-0 victory over United in the Premier League.

After completing his media duties, Haaland took a solo selfie on the Old Trafford pitch and uploaded it to Instagram with the caption: “Nice.” What he had not noticed was that the Premier League’s own TV crew was in the background, with analyst Owen Hargreaves mid-segment. When the league’s official social media account pointed this out, Haaland responded in the comments with a single word: “sorry.”

The moment of levity came after a hard-fought and controversial afternoon for City. Haaland scored the only goal midway through the second half, turning home Josko Gvardiol’s cross, but the linesman initially flagged him offside. VAR overturned the decision, ruling that Haaland was behind Patrick Dorgu and that Enzo Fernandez, though in an offside position, had not influenced play.

The goal proved all the more significant given that City had been reduced to ten men following Phil Foden’s early red card — a disadvantage they managed for close to 60 minutes. United pushed for an equaliser and forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into a superb save from Bryan Mbeumo, but City held on.

Speaking after the match, Haaland was characteristically direct about the goal and the broader achievement. “I thought there may have been a flick because normally I don’t go offside. I said to Michael Oliver that I took it personal that he thought I was offside,” he said. “I looked over at Enzo [Maresca] and he gave me a thumbs up, and then I kind of knew that it was a goal. So I kind of prepared myself to go and celebrate.”

On the wider context of the win, he added: “I think, honestly, this is one of the better ones, because of the occasion and everything — ten men and everything. Of course, it’s always nice to win football games, never take that for granted, but especially here, ten men for almost 60 minutes or something.”

The result has not been without controversy beyond the selfie, however. Refereeing body Pro Ref issued a statement on Sunday evening acknowledging an “error of judgment” in the VAR process and contacted Manchester United directly to admit the mistake — ensuring the debate over Haaland’s winner is unlikely to fade quickly.