The head of English professional refereeing has admitted that a form of "tunnel vision" led video officials to allow Manchester City's derby-winning goal to stand despite a clear offside in the build-up. Manchester City striker Erling Haaland's goal was given after a VAR review in the match against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday, September 13. But video officials made an error in failing to identify an offside offence by Enzo Fernandez, who was diving at the ball as Josko Gvardiol's cross came in before Haaland finished from close range. The decision to award the goal has caused uproar, and even calls for VAR to be scrapped altogether. The sequence unfolded in front of a national television audience. The assistant referee's flag had initially ruled Haaland offside as the move developed, and play was held while the video team in Stockley Park checked the phase of play. Instead of the offside against Fernandez being identified, the review concluded that the on-field ruling was wrong and the goal was awarded, with Fernandez's dive at the ball judged not to constitute an interference offence despite his position beyond the last defender. Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer at Pro Ref, said he was "really disappointed" with the mistake made by VAR Matt Donohue and assistant Blake Antrobus. "I was really disappointed with this outcome. We all are. None more so than the officials themselves," Webb said. "They take a lot of personal pride in what they do and they're obviously hurting now, having fallen short in this situation. They'll not be officiating again until after the international break." ## Transparency, Apology and a Process Review Webb confirmed the referees' body has contacted the club that was wronged. "We've reached out to Manchester United and acknowledged the error, as we do when these things happen," he said. "They don't happen that often, but we want to ensure that we are transparent and open, and we've played the audio and the footage to the football club to let them know what happened." The organization will now conduct a formal review. "We're going to review this situation to understand what elements of process fell down in this situation which meant we didn't get to the right outcome," Webb said. The refereeing chief believes Donohue was too focused on whether Fernandez had touched the ball, rather than considering whether he was interfering with play from an offside position. Under the sport's laws, an offside player need not touch the ball to be penalized. An action that clearly impacts an opponent's ability to play the ball, such as diving at it in the goalmouth, can constitute interference, and that interpretation is precisely what the video officials failed to apply as the cross reached the six-yard area. "In that moment, he gets tunnel vision," Webb said. "He gets focused on Haaland, and it's down to the rest of his team to pull him out of that tunnel, and unfortunately, that didn't happen on this occasion." ## Why the Safety Net Failed Webb explained the psychological pressure inside the VAR operating room. "When you watch it casually, you think, 'Well, this is obviously offside against Fernandez'. When you're sat in that chair, and you've got other things going through your head in relation to the process that you need to follow to establish Haaland's position, to follow through the attacking phase of play, you can get that tunnel-vision sort of effect," he said. "We've seen that before. We've put processes in place that protect us from that, with the assistant VAR stepping in to pull the VAR out of that tunnel, but it didn't happen on this occasion." United head coach Michael Carrick said it was "worrying" that the goal had been allowed to stand, voicing the frustration of a club that felt robbed of a result in English football's most watched fixture. United's players and staff confronted the officials on the pitch after the goal was given, and the club's post-match briefing made clear it regarded the outcome as a serious failure rather than a marginal judgment call. The fallout has reignited a broader debate among pundits, supporters and former players over whether the video review system, introduced to eliminate clear errors, has instead become a source of them. Webb also felt referee Michael Oliver was right to send off City midfielder Phil Foden for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes earlier in the same game, a judgment that drew less controversy than the winning goal. Pro Ref's decision to release details so quickly, including the admission that senior officials were withdrawn from duty, represents an unusually direct response by the body, which has previously faced criticism for explaining errors days later through its published decision panels rather than immediate public statements from its leadership. The review's findings will shape whether the assistant VAR protocol is strengthened. For now, the most consequential offside miss of the young season stands in the record as a City win, a United grievance, and a test of whether transparency can rebuild trust in video officiating.