VAR who wrongly awarded Haaland goal against Man Utd is former Manchester teacher who had run in with Harry Maguire

CHANCES ARE Matt Donohue will not be assigned a Manchester United match for a while. Donohue, the VAR who mistakenly recommended that Erling Haaland’s winner be allowed in Sunday’s derby, will be subjected to a review by officials’ body ProRef. Matt Donohue found himself at the centre of Sunday’s VAR storm Credit: Getty Enzo Fernandez stood miles offside before Erling Haaland’s goal Credit: Sky Sports United are not expected to demand any further action after Donohue’s error, with a senior source saying the ProRef statement “spoke for itself”. The club were aware that the Premier League Match Centre’s explanation for overturning the Haaland offside was factually wrong before ProRef admitted “an error of judgement”. Sign up for the Man United newsletter Thank you! United expected on-pitch referee Michael Oliver to be sent to the pitchside monitor to review a “subjective offside” call and then uphold the original decision. Donohue was born in Southend but moved to Greater Manchester more than ten years ago. The referee taught at Greswell Primary School and Nursery in Denton and spent eight years at the school before becoming a full-time referee in 2019. Donohue, 38, alleged he was abused by United defender Harry Maguire after he was sent off at Bournemouth in March. Donohue filed an “extraordinary incident report”. He wrote that after the VAR check was completed, Maguire “as he was leaving the field of play, approached me and shouted, ‘You’re a joke. You’re all a f***ing joke.’ “I am reporting the matter to the Football Association for further review.” Most read in Football BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS Maguire claimed that he did not label Donohue or any match official a “f***ing joke”. Donohue admitted there was “a possibility that the words were either misheard or mis-recollected. “Whilst I think Mr Maguire said ‘You’re a joke’ I wouldn’t be able to respond to this with certainty. “However, the second sentence “You’re all a f***ing joke,’ I do remember hearing with clarity and remember thinking that the comment was aimed collectively at the group of officials. “I would be prepared to say with certainty that these words were said.” The Football Association preferred Donohue’s evidence and concluded that Maguire should be banned for an additional match over his outburst. Despite Donohue’s links to Denton, there was not an obvious conflict of interest for him to be installed as the VAR for Sunday’s derby. Anthony Taylor, born in the Greater Manchester town of Wythenshawe, has refereed five Manchester derbies but is an Altrincham fan. Harry Maguire was furious after being sent off at Bournemouth Credit: Alamy Comment now