Chris Foy argues that video assistant referee Matt Donohue erred in allowing Erling Haaland's goal to stand in Manchester City's 1-0 win over Manchester United, after Pro Ref confirmed Enzo Fernández had been in an offside position and interfered with play before the goal was scored. Despite the mistake, Foy defends officiating standards more broadly this season, saying referees have started the campaign well 39 games in, handling holding offences, ball-in-play time and set pieces more effectively than before.

The article also examines two other contentious decisions: Phil Foden's red card for kicking Bruno Fernandes in the Manchester derby, which Foy says was correctly given despite Fernandes' provocative toe-poke beforehand, and Sunderland's penalty award against Arsenal, where VAR Stuart Attwell rightly upheld referee John Brooks' on-field call after Ezri Konsa held Dan Ballard in the box. Foy concludes that while Donohue's error on the Haaland goal was significant, the other big calls that weekend were correctly made by officials.