Rooney slams Manchester derby VAR call as Man Utd left furious

Wayne Rooney led the inquest into the controversial decision to allow Erling Haaland's winning goal in Sunday's Manchester derby.

The Manchester City striker plundered the only goal of the game to clinch a memorable victory for Enzo Maresca's side, who played with 10 men for more than an hour after Phil Foden was shown a straight red card for aiming a kick into the midriff of Bruno Fernandes midway through the first half.

Just as the debate over Foden's dismissal was dying down, VAR intervened to allow Haaland's goal on the hour mark to stand after it was originally ruled out for offside.

Replays eventually showed that the striker was played onside by a touch from Patrick Dorgu - but the presence of Enzo Fernandez, who was clearly offside, attempting to reach Josko Gvardiol's cross sparked fury.

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Rooney was among those who felt that Lisandro Martinez's position was influenced by Fernandez's presence, telling Match of the Day: “Surely it's offside. Martinez is impacted by Enzo's movement, and he is offside.”

Gary Neville was also less than convinced that the right outcome had been reached on commentary. The Sky Sports pundit said: “We're going to have one more look at this goal, does Fernandez put off Martinez? I do think when they look back at this they'll realise they've got it wrong.”

Neville went one further later in the game, suggesting that Manchester United were likely to receive an apology from RefPro after the on-field decision of no goal was overruled. “They're the words [a played not needing to touch the ball to be offside] that I think – emphatically – means we will see an apology from Pro Ref.

“There is no doubt that Enzo is attempting to play the ball and putting Lisandro Martinez off It’s a really strange one. They’ll recognise they got that wrong.”

Though Rooney and Neville are among those who felt Fernandez's movement should have been deemed as the midfielder interfering with play, the Premier League Match Centre account confirmed that VAR officials were satisfied him not playing the ball was enough to intervene.

They posted on X: “VAR checked the referee’s call of no goal for offside – and determined that Haaland was in an onside position and recommended that the goal was awarded. The VAR also deemed that while in an offside position, Fernandez didn’t play the ball.”