‘I am really disappointed’ – Howard Webb scolds VAR Matt Donohue as ‘tunnel vision’ sees Haaland goal at Man Utd allowed

REFS chief Howard Webb blamed “tunnel vision” by VAR Matt Donohue for his shocking Old Trafford blunder. Donohue and his assistant Blake Antrobus have both been stood down from officiating duties until next month after failing to recognise Enzo Fernandez was clearly offside ahead of Erling Haaland’s derby winner. Referee chief Howard Webb has scolded the VAR following Sunday’s wrong decision in the Manchester derby Credit: PA Man City came out 1-0 winners thanks to the decision Credit: Getty Pro Ref bosses realised the scale of the howler almost instantly, with Webb green-lighting the swift admissions of an “error of judgement” on Sunday night. The audio of the incident, played out for the first time on the “Mic’d Up” review programme, showed Donohue and the Stockley Park hub crew were swiftly able to confirm Haaland was played 3cm onside by Patrick Dorgu’s toe, relaying that to referee Michael Oliver. Sign up for the Man United newsletter Thank you! But the officials then focused on the fact that Fernandez had not got a touch on the cross rather than his impact on both Lisandro Martinez and Senne Lammens. While Oliver is heard in the background explaining to players of both sides that Haaland was wrongly flagged, Donohue tells his colleagues: “Deflection (by Dorgu). Onside. No touch there, confirm no touch. “Clear gap. There’s not a touch there, is there? It’s not a touch there? Goal.” He then switches Oliver’s link back on to say: “Michael, confirming that you need to change your decision to goal. Haaland is in an onside position. Final decision is goal, check complete.” And now the referees’ boss has conceded the damage done by the error, with Donohue and Antrobus both responsible. Webb, who confirmed he had apologised to United, said: “I was really disappointed with this outcome. We all are. None more so than the officials themselves. Most read in Sport BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS “They take a lot of personal pride in what they do and they’re obviously hurting now, having fallen short in this situation. “The VAR gets super focused on Haaland. He establishes he’s onside, he thinks that’s a good goal, Haaland’s not offside, as was thought initially. “But he doesn’t truly evaluate the full impact of Fernandez’s position and doesn’t truly evaluate other elements of offside. “In that moment, he gets tunnel vision. 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. “When you’re sat in that chair, and you’ve got other things going through your head, you can get that tunnel-vision sort of effect. “We’ve seen that before and 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. “This goal should’ve been disallowed. “Highly unfortunately, it wasn’t, and we’ll review it, reflect upon it, and try to take the learning forward to prevent this unusual type of error from happening again.” The other contentious incident on Sunday saw Phil Foden dismissed after a retaliatory kick at United skipper Bruno Fernandes, after the England midfielder had been booted on his backside. Webb, though, backed ref Michael Oliver’s red card decision for Foden but felt the “petulant kick” by Fernandes only met the threshold for a yellow card, which the VAR is not empowered to recommend. The Pro Ref boss also supported three more crunch calls, although he admitted the handball Law that meant United defender Harry Maguire’s mishit strike off Ipswich’s Jacob Greaves being allowed to stand as it was an own goal, after the former England centre-half handled was “a bit of a nonsense”. Webb said that VAR Peter Bankes could see the “three stripes” on Neco Williams Nottingham Forest long sleeves rippling before he accidentally nudged over the line for a goal that was eventually chalked off against Spurs, adding: “It’s clear. It’s conclusive, and the goal has to be disallowed.” And Liverpool’s stoppage time equalising penalty in the opening weekend draw at Newcastle was “a really good call late in the game” and evidence of the push, approved by club chiefs before the season, of the “referee’s call” taking priority unless there has been a major error. Comment now