Rooney brands VAR 'horrendous' after Haaland derby goal survives offside review

Wayne Rooney has labelled VAR “horrendous” following the controversial decision to allow Erling Haaland’s goal to stand during the Manchester derby, with the sport’s officiating body, Pro Ref, subsequently admitting the call was wrong.

Haaland was initially flagged offside after scoring on the hour-mark, but a lengthy VAR review overturned the decision by confirming the Norwegian was in an onside position. The controversy centred on Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez, who was clearly beyond the last defender and made a visible attempt to play the ball — a movement that, under the laws of the game, should have constituted interference with play and resulted in an offside ruling.

Pro Ref later contacted Manchester United to acknowledge what they described as “an error of judgement”. Their statement 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.”

Speaking on BBC Match of the Day after the statement was read aloud, Rooney was unsparing in his criticism. “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.”

Fellow pundit Danny Murphy offered a detailed breakdown of how Fernandez’s run directly influenced two United players. According to Murphy, defender Lisandro Martinez, who was tracking Haaland, was pulled away from his man by Fernandez’s movement, leaving Haaland free. Goalkeeper Lammens was also affected, having positioned himself for a header from Fernandez before being caught off guard by Haaland’s finish.

“It makes it so simple, and so obvious,” Murphy said. “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.”

The admission from Pro Ref that a reviewable error occurred will intensify the ongoing debate around VAR’s application in the Premier League, particularly in high-stakes fixtures where marginal calls carry significant consequences.