caughtoffside
·13 September 2026
"I have to say..." - Two Man Utd legends are saying the same thing about controversial City goal

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·13 September 2026

Manchester United legends Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney are convinced that Erling Haaland’s goal for Manchester City today was offside.
The Norway international struck from close range to give ten-man City the a 1-0 lead at Old Trafford, but the flag initially went up for offside.
VAR then checked the goal, however, and ultimately overturned the decision, allowing Haaland’s strike to stand.
Neville, speaking during commentary for Sky Sports, as quoted by BBC Sport, was baffled by the decision and said he’d need it explaining to him.

Erling Haaland celebrates scoring for Man City vs Man United (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Reacting to the goal, Neville said: “I need the offside law explaining to me, that has lost me I have to say. It will need an official to explain to us why he’s not offside.”
He added: “I do think when they look back at this they’ll realise they’ve got it wrong.”
Take a look for yourself in the video clip below, which also appears to show Haaland being slightly offside when the cross is played…
Fellow MUFC legend Rooney shared Neville’s view, saying: “Surely it’s offside. Martinez is impacted by Enzo’s movement, and he is offside.”
In fairness, even if that’s a very big call to get wrong, it’s probably deserved on the balance of play so far.
City have been down to ten men since Phil Foden’s red card in the 23rd minute, but have still looked like the better side overall.
United haven’t taken advantage of having the extra player at all, in what has been a really timid display in such a big game.
Haaland got a bit lucky with this decision, but MUFC could also surely have done more to avoid this scenario they now find themselves in.
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