Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville criticised the VAR decision that awarded Manchester City's winning goal in the 1-0 derby defeat, claiming Enzo Fernandez interfered with Lisandro Martinez. The match took place on Sunday, with Erling Haaland scoring the only goal in the 60th minute after VAR overturned an initial offside call.
Phil Foden was shown a straight red card in the first half for aiming a kick into the midriff of Bruno Fernandes, leaving Manchester City with 10 men for more than an hour. Despite the numerical disadvantage, City held on to secure the win, with Haaland's goal standing after VAR review determined he was onside following a touch from Patrick Dorgu.
Rooney said: "Surely it's offside. Martinez is impacted by Enzo's movement, and he is offside." Neville added: "We're going to have one more look at this goal, does Fernandez put off Martinez?" Both pundits argued Fernandez's offside position affected Martinez's ability to defend the play.
The Premier League Match Centre confirmed VAR officials were satisfied Fernandez not playing the ball was enough to intervene, stating that while Fernandez was offside, he didn't play the ball. Rooney led the inquest into the controversial decision, speaking to Match of the Day about the incident, while Neville is a Sky Sports pundit.
Manchester United sit 13th in the Premier League on 4 points after 3 games, with the last meeting against Manchester City ending in a 0-1 defeat on 2026-09-13. The team's recent form is 2W-1D-2L, including a 4-0 win over Sabah FA on 2026-09-10 and a 2-2 draw with Everton on 2026-09-06.
The next fixture is Fulham away on 2026-09-20, with Fulham currently sitting 18th in the table. Fans can check the upcoming schedule on our fixtures page and review the squad list on our squad page.
