Wayne Rooney has criticised VAR after Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester City, describing the decision that allowed Erling Haaland’s winning goal as “horrendous.”
According to a report by Metro on Monday, September 14, 2026, Rooney was speaking on Match of the Day 2 after City secured a controversial victory at Old Trafford.
Haaland scored in the 60th minute to give City the win, despite Pep Guardiola’s side playing with 10 men for more than an hour after Phil Foden was sent off for kicking out at Bruno Fernandes.
However, the goal was surrounded by controversy, with United players and staff convinced there had been an offside offence in the build-up.
Haaland was eventually judged to be onside, but the bigger issue centred on Enzo Fernandez’s position. Officials initially decided that Fernandez had not played the ball, meaning he was not considered to have interfered with play.
United strongly disagreed with that assessment, arguing that Fernandez had made an attempt to reach the ball and was close enough to affect both Lisandro Martinez and goalkeeper Senne Lammens.
The controversy became even bigger after Pro Ref admitted that VAR had made an error. The refereeing body acknowledged that Fernandez’s likely impact should have been considered and that VAR should have recommended an on-field review.
Rooney was clearly unhappy with the decision.
“I’m just so sick of this VAR, I think it’s horrendous,” the former Manchester United captain said.
He questioned how the officials could have missed Fernandez’s involvement despite having VAR available to review the incident.
Former Liverpool and Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy also criticised the decision, agreeing that it was difficult to justify.
United manager Michael Carrick was equally frustrated after the match. He said it was hard to understand the explanation that Fernandez had not interfered with play, considering where he was and his movement towards the ball.
Carrick also raised concerns about the amount of time spent reviewing VAR incidents and warned that the way the rules are being interpreted could become a serious problem for football.
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