The video assistant referee who made an “error of judgement” by awarding a Manchester City goal during Sunday’s derby at Old Trafford has been dropped from the Premier League refereeing line-up this weekend.
Matt Donohue, alongside assistant Blake Antrobus, gave the goal after a VAR review despite Enzo Fernandez appearing to interfere with play from an offside position in the build-up to Erling Haaland’s strike.
Referees’ body Pro Ref acknowledged it was a mistake for Donohue not to advise on-field referee Michael Oliver to check the monitor to determine if Fernandez’s involvement warranted an offside call. On the pitch, the goal was initially ruled out for an offside against Haaland, who was subsequently shown to be played onside by Patrick Dorgu.
Fernandez appeared to directly affect the reactions of United defender Lisandro Martinez and goalkeeper Senne Lammens as he attempted to head the ball, which satisfies the threshold for an offside offence.
Donohue made his top-flight refereeing debut in May 2024, having been promoted to the EFL’s assistant referees list in 2014. He has been deployed regularly as a VAR over the past two seasons.
Antrobus has also been left without a match appointment this weekend. Oliver, however, will referee Sunday’s fixture between Bournemouth and Liverpool.
Former Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney described the decision to allow the goal as “baffling”.
Rooney told the BBC’s Match of the Day 2: “I’m just so sick of this VAR, I think it’s horrendous. It takes all the emotion off the game, the energy the game’s played with, and to not see that and recognise Fernandez is in an offside position…
“Anyone who’s played the game at any level understands that and knows that he’s in an offside position…to get it so wrong, it’s just baffling.”
Pro Ref has since made contact with Manchester United over the matter.
Former Coventry and Cardiff forward Jay Bothroyd demanded the officials be sanctioned during Sky Sports News’ Ref Watch, but when asked about potential consequences, ex-referee Dermot Gallagher said: “Well, it’s in house, isn’t it? I have to tell you, when I was a referee, and referees now, we actually beat ourselves up if we get something wrong.
“We are the worst enemies for ourselves. (This incident is) really unfortunate, but that’s it. You can’t change that. You can only change the present and the future. And you’ve got to learn from it.”
Gallagher noted the officials “lost focus”, adding: “I think they’ve focused on one element of that law (whether Fernandez touched the ball) and that focus has diverted them away from the real thing.”
Bothroyd maintained that the officials must face punishment and urged for former players to contribute to VAR decision-making.
“Players make mistakes, right? And they get reprimanded. Officials need to do the same thing. There needs to be some kind of punishment for officials as well, because saying I’m sorry is just not good enough,” he said.
“(Manchester United head coach) Michael Carrick’s under pressure now. He’s under pressure now, so he could lose his job because of them making a bad decision.
“I know for absolute certain, any player that’s played at any level that is looking at that today or when the game was happening will be saying, ‘Enzo Fernandez is definitely interfering with play’.”
Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer of Pro Ref, is set to appear on the ‘Match Officials: Mic’d Up’ show on Sky Sports and TNT Sports on Tuesday, where he is expected to address the derby error.
It is understood Webb and the Pro Ref executive team chose not to select Donohue and Antrobus for fixtures. This ensures the duo will not officiate a Premier League match until October 10 at the earliest, with an international break following this weekend’s matches.
