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Haaland goal should not have stood but VAR made the right call with Sunderland penalty | Chris Foy

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An empty football stadium and its pitch
File photograph: An empty football stadium and its pitch. Ben Wiens / Unsplash. Illustrative context, not a photograph of this reported event.

Matt Donohue is only human and made a mistake, but overall referees have started well this season There was a disappointing outcome on a big decision in the Manchester derby and no one will feel it more than the video assistant referee Matt Donohue. On Sunday night, Pro Ref confirmed Donohue had made a mistake in allowing Erling Haaland’s goal in City’s 1-0 victory to stand when Enzo Fernández had been in an offside position.

When a VAR considers a decision such as this they start from the point at which the goal is scored and work backwards. Here, when Haaland scores, the flag is raised by the assistant referee for offside. The VAR automatically checked that on-field decision and used a semi-automated system to show Haaland was onside. The decision was then made to overturn the call and award the goal.

Read the original report at The Guardian.

Sources and context

The Guardian

Source headline and summary supplied via NewsData.io. First collected by NewsJaws on 2026-09-15. This is an automated news brief, not original NewsJaws reporting. Dates reflect the source publication. Feed delays may apply.