Photo via Sky Sports

Webb: VAR had 'tunnel vision' on Haaland which led to Enzo error

Referees' chief Howard Webb has expressed significant frustration over an incorrect decision to award Erling Haaland's decisive strike during the Manchester derby. The goal had been chalked off initially by on-field referee Michael Oliver because the Norwegian forward was flagged offside.

However, video review team Matt Donohue and assistant Blake Antrobus reversed the call after discovering Haaland was legal by three centimetres, failing to penalize an offside Enzo Fernandez who lunged toward the ball and significantly impeded Lisandro Martinez as well as Senne Lammens.

Speaking on Mic'd Up, Webb explained that the video official suffered from narrow concentration, fixating entirely on Haaland's position while overlooking Fernandez's clear interference with play. Despite audio capturing the booth confirming Fernandez never made contact with the ball, Webb stressed that a physical touch is not necessary for an infraction to occur.

He noted that the rest of the officiating crew should have helped refocus the lead video referee during the sequence, concluding that the match-winner should have been disallowed.