'Unacceptable' - Premier League told referees must be punished after Man Utd controversy

· Mirror

Manchester United's home defeat Manchester City in the derby was marred by a controversial decision in the build-up to Erling Haaland's goal

Former England international Jay Bothroyd believes the Premier League should punish referees for mistakes after the controversy in the Manchester derby. He was looking at the error that led to Erling Haaland's winner for Manchester City in their dramatic 1-0 away triumph over Manchester United.

The controversy centred on Enzo Fernández, who was offside as he tried to head the ball but missed it, allowing Haaland to find the net at the far post. The goal was allowed to stand, despite Fernandez appearing to be interfering with play from an offside position.

On Sky Sports' referee watch program, ex-Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher suggested the officials looking at the incident may have "lost focus" before deciding to award the goal. Bothroyd believes that if that were the case, the officials responsible for reviewing the incident should be reprimanded for what he feels was an "unacceptable" mistake.

Addressing the incident, Gallagher said: "They focused on one element of the law and diverted them from it. When he dives for the ball, they've looked at Haaland, and it's 'Has Fernandez headed the ball'? Because they've looked so long at that, and for some reason, they've lost focus. He's impacted two people."

When asked what potential punishment could face them, Gallagher replied: "It's in-house. When I was a referee, we used to beat ourselves up. I learned that, 'that's happened' it's unfortunate. It's really unfortunate but you can't change that."

Bothroyd then replied: "To me that's unacceptable, you can't lose focus. They're not under pressure they're in a room. Saying sorry, that's not good enough. Michael Carrick is under pressure now. He could lose his job because of a bad decision, 'sorry, Michael, we made a mistake'."

Pro Ref, the elite officiating body, has already admitted the goal should not have been allowed due to Fernandez being in an offside position. They issued a statement which said: "Following the incident in the 60th minute of Sunday’s Premier League fixture between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford, we can provide clarification regarding Erling Haaland’s awarded goal.

> "The on-field decision was offside against Haaland – that was checked by VAR and he was found to be in an onside position. In the same attack, it was established that Fernández did not play the ball and therefore that makes any offside offence subjective.

> "However, on this occasion, the VAR did not recognise the likely impact of his position and should have recommended an on-field review. Contact has been made with Manchester United this evening to acknowledge what we deem is an error of judgement. A review of the incident will take place.”

United manager Michael Carrick found the decision "staggering" and said: "At the time I hadn’t totally seen it. But the explanation I got was he wasn’t interfering with play, so I just don’t get it.

> "I can’t understand how they’re trying to help referees and putting so many layers behind them with so many people, screens, and so many whatever offices to try and come up with the right decisions.

> “If that’s how the rules are interpreted, that you’re not interfering with play because you’ve thrown yourself at the ball six yards from goal and pretty much nearly touched it, which then Lisandro has to react from – it’s worrying if that’s really how the game’s seen by those who are officiating it.”

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