Manchester United can justifiably feel wronged by some of the events of Sunday’s derby clash with rivals City. That much is no longer a matter of opinion. The refereeing body now called Pro Ref, the rebranded PGMOL, contacted the club on Sunday evening to accept that Erling Haaland’s winner at Old Trafford should not have stood, and the lead VAR has been stood down from this week’s fixtures. When the people who made the decision tell you it was wrong, you are entitled to be angry about it.
The trouble is that the apology doesn’t put a point on the board, and it doesn’t explain the other sixty-odd minutes that United played a man up then lost 1-0 at home. They are four games into the Premier League season with four points, one win, and a bottom-half position they have no business occupying. That is the story of the week, and the VAR row — justified as it is — sits on top of it rather than in place of it.
It has been a strange seven days in that respect: a comfortable return to the Champions League in midweek, a derby defeat that felt like a robbery and a shortcoming at the same time, and a protest outside the ground that had nothing to do with either. Plenty to talk about. And not much of it, good.
The leading story
The facts of the derby are straightforward enough. Phil Foden was sent off on 23 minutes for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes, after Fernandes had kicked the ball into him and also given him a little bit extra while he was down — the consequent decision by the ref that drew its own argument, with Roy Keane among those suggesting Fernandes was fortunate to stay on the pitch. Haaland scored on 60 minutes, tapping in at the far post. The flag went up, semi-automated offside technology overturned it, and the goal stood despite Enzo Fernández — City’s £125m summer signing from Chelsea — standing in an offside position in the build-up. Michael Oliver refereed; Matt Donohue was the VAR.
The explanation given at the time was that Fernández had not touched the ball and was not interfering with play. But to anyone watching the game, that was not the case. City’s Argentine midfielder was clearly attempting to score and only narrowly missed getting his head on the ball as it passed in front of Senne Lammens’ goal mouth — which clearly had an effect on United’s own Argentinian, Lisandro Martínez’s ability to defend the cross. The laws themselves are not about touching the ball; they are about impacting an opponent’s ability to play it.
By Sunday evening Pro Ref had conceded exactly that, saying the VAR “did not recognise the likely impact of his position and should have recommended an on-field review”, and confirming it had contacted United to acknowledge what it called an error of judgement. Reportedly, Donohue was subsequently removed from Premier League and Carabao Cup third-round duty this week.
Michael Carrick’s line afterwards — “the explanation I got was that he wasn’t interfering with play, I just don’t get it” — was measured by the standards of the moment. Lisandro Martínez was less restrained, saying he wanted to stay calm but found the repetition of these mistakes unacceptable.
And then there is the rest of it. United hit the post twice, through Marcus Rashford in first-half stoppage time and Kobbie Mainoo just after the break, and Bryan Mbeumo was denied late by a fine Gianluigi Donnarumma save. Fine margins, genuinely. But a team with an hour’s worth of extra man against a side defending a one-goal lead should be generating more than two frames of the woodwork and one save to talk about.
The other key developments
A tidy Champions League return, with an asterisk. United beat Sabah 4-0 in a convincing win at Old Trafford on 10 September on their first appearance back in the competition for three years, Cunha, Fernandes and Šeško scoring inside the first half and Martínez adding a fourth after the break. Carrick rotated his squad heavily with the upcoming derby in mind, using all five substitutes. It was a comfortable night against a side making its debut in the league phase — a welcome victory, but not evidence of much.
Supporters protested before kick-off over the season-ticket crackdown. United confirmed last week that 685 season tickets had been removed following an investigation into ticket touting, with hundreds of further accounts sanctioned or warned. The club accepted the process had “caused significant concern and distress for some supporters” and said it had underestimated how common password-sharing was among account holders. The 1958 called it a “season ticket ban fiasco”; The Red Army cancelled its pre-match flag display in protest. Fans gathered at the Munich tunnel with flares and banners before the derby, with anger directed at Sir Jim Ratcliffe as well as the Glazers.
The treatment room is still busy. Luke Shaw missed the derby with a knock picked up at Everton, with Carrick describing him as “close, very close, just not quite there”. Matthijs de Ligt continues to work back from May’s back surgery. Carlos Baleba, signed from Brighton late in the summer window, has been photographed training at Carrington but the club has indicated he will not feature against his former club on Wednesday; Amad Diallo is also out with an ankle problem, and Manuel Ugarte is not expected back until the new year. These are aggregated reports rather than a formal club bulletin, so treat return dates as indicative.
What it means
Strip out the officiating and United’s season looks like this: beaten at Hull on the opening weekend, five past Ipswich, two points thrown away at Everton having led twice, and a home derby lost against ten men. Four points from four. Gary Neville’s observation that Carrick “can be angry about the goal but he should also be angry about the performance” is the fair version of it, and his supporting point is the more damning one — this is now the third time in a year United have failed to beat opposition reduced to ten.
There is a squad-shape argument underneath it. With Shaw out, Patrick Dorgu was exposed at left-back and was involved in the sequence leading to City’s goal; the analysis around the game has focused on a summer window that strengthened the front third without adding defensive depth, and on whether Carrick’s midfield configuration is getting the best out of Šeško and Cunha. That is interpretation rather than fact, and it is worth labelling as such — but it is the interpretation that will follow Carrick around if results don’t turn.
The off-field story matters too, and not only because it is uncomfortable. The club’s full-year accounts are due later this month, and a supporter base already agitated about ticketing, pricing and the stadium plan is not going to be soothed by a run of poor results. The two things feed each other.
THE UNITED ROUNDUP VIEW
A pattern, not an incident
The encouraging part is real and should be said plainly: United created enough to have won on Sunday, the Champions League night was professional, and the individual quality in the forward line is better than it has been for several seasons. A team that hits the post twice and forces a save like Donnarumma’s is not a broken one.
The concern is that this is now a pattern rather than an incident. United have dropped points from winning positions, lost at home to ten men, and are relying on the argument that they deserved better. Sometimes they have. Deserving better is not a strategy, and Carrick has now had enough time and enough of a window to be judged on outcomes rather than intentions.
What would change our assessment: a convincing win at home to Brighton, then three points against Fulham, with a settled back four and a striker getting service. Two wins in four days from a squad this expensive is not an unreasonable bar. What would deepen the concern is another game in which United dominates the ball, looks tidy, and loses — the specific failure that has defined this start.
On the refereeing: Pro Ref’s apology is the right thing done too late to matter, and the pattern of admitting errors after the fact while the points stay where they landed is corrosive. United are entitled to keep making that case. They are not entitled to use it as cover.
🚨 OFFICIAL: Pro Ref confirm "an error of judgement" in Haaland's goal — also informing Man United directly. "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 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. "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."
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 13, 2026
What comes next
United host Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford on Wednesday 16 September in the Carabao Cup third round, with Baleba not expected to face his former club. Fulham then visit in the Premier League on Sunday 20 September — the game Neville has already framed as a pressure fixture.
Watch for three things: whether Shaw and de Ligt are fit enough to start either match, whether Carrick changes the midfield shape or doubles down on it, and whether Pro Ref’s promised review of the derby incident produces anything more substantial than another stood-down official.