Refereeing Body Admits Error on Haaland Derby Goal

Dale Johnson, BBC Sport football issues correspondent

The initial reason for disallowing the goal was incorrect; Haaland was wrongly flagged offside.

In reality, the goal should have been disallowed because Fernandez was offside.

A key part of the offside law applies here: a player is offside if they are 'clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent.'

Both conditions must be met. A player in an offside position might attempt to play the ball without committing an offense, but only if their action does not affect an opponent.

As the ball entered the box, Fernandez lunged for it, with Martinez right behind him.

Video assistant referee Matt Donohue should have considered whether Fernandez's attempt to head the ball would have influenced Martinez.

The question is: If Fernandez hadn't jumped, would Martinez have made a different decision about playing the ball?

If the ball was beyond the reach of either player, the goal might have stood. Similarly, no offside would have occurred if Fernandez had not attempted to play the ball.

However, Fernandez did attempt to play it. With the ball only a yard in front of Martinez, it's hard to argue Fernandez didn't commit an offside offense.

There's also an argument that Fernandez's actions affected the goalkeeper Senne Lammens' positioning.

Despite the original disallowance for an incorrect offside against Haaland, which necessitated overturning the decision, the VAR should have directed referee Michael Oliver to the monitor to review Fernandez's subjective offense.

This would have resulted in the unusual scenario of a disallowed goal being reviewed only to remain disallowed – but it's what should have happened. Fernandez committed a clear offside offense, and this will be recorded as a VAR mistake.