Gary Neville criticises VAR decision that gave Erling Haaland a derby goal

Gary Neville has criticised the video assistant referee decision that gave Erling HaalandErling HaalandMan City · Norway · Forward a goal in the Manchester derby. His reaction was reported after the match and has become the centre of the argument about how the fixture was officiated. Neville described the call in strongly dismissive terms.

2025/26

Season 2025/26

What is known about the decision

Haaland's goal was allowed to count for Manchester CityManchester CityPremier League · England2nd POS23–9–6 W-D-L in the derby against Manchester UnitedManchester UnitedPremier League · England3rd POS20–11–7 W-D-L, so the decision went in City's favour and against their rivals. The video assistant referee was involved in reaching it. Beyond that, the picture is thin: the incident that prompted the review, the point in the match at which it happened and the state of the score at the time have not been established.

It is also unclear whether the video assistant referee intervened to overturn an on-field decision or reviewed the goal and allowed it to stand. Those are two different controversies. One is a judgment about what the footage shows; the other is a judgment about whether the referee should have been asked to look at it at all.

Why the call drew such a reaction

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Manchester derbies are the fixtures in which officiating decisions are examined hardest, and a call that produces a goal for one side is felt by the other immediately. Neville's verdict is a reaction to the decision rather than an explanation of it, but the force of it shapes how the incident will be remembered.

Pundits who respond within minutes of a decision set the terms of the debate before any formal explanation arrives. The language used in that window tends to harden into a settled view, and the officials who made the call rarely have the same platform to answer it.

What has not been said

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Neither Manchester City nor Manchester United has commented publicly on the decision, and no explanation of the reasoning behind it has been issued. The officials involved have not spoken about it either. Until that changes, the sequence of events that led to the goal remains the open part of the story.

What happens next

The argument will move on with the next round of fixtures, as these arguments do, but the underlying question — whether the process arrived at the right answer — will not be settled by Neville's response to it. If the body responsible for refereeing sets out its reasoning, the debate will shift from the decision itself to the standard being applied. If it stays silent, the criticism becomes the record.