Neville: Man Utd owed apology over Haaland derby goal

Haaland scored the only goal of the game in the 60th minute, bundling past Senne Lammens at the back post from a Josko Gvardiol cross. The goal was ruled out for offside on the pitch, then awarded after a lengthy VAR review. Confusion centred first on whether Haaland himself was onside, before attention shifted to Enzo Fernandez, who was in an offside position as he tried to reach the ball ahead of Haaland without making contact with it.

The Premier League Match Centre explained the decision 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."

Neville argued that referee Michael Oliver got the call wrong in real time, saying the officials "will be nervous" and "will recognise they got this wrong." He kept that position after full-time, insisting his old club "will see an apology" from PGMOL.

City had their own contentious moment in the first half, when Phil Foden was sent off for kicking Bruno Fernandes.

Fernandez's role split opinion beyond Neville's comments: the offside law states a player in an offside position who impacts an opponent's ability to defend can be penalised even without touching the ball, and replays appeared to show his movement affecting Lisandro Martinez as Haaland arrived at the back post.

"They're the words that I think – emphatically – means we will see an apology from PGMOL," said Neville referring to the wording of the offside rule.