The dreaded apology didn’t go far enough. The body representing officials, Pro Ref, owes the whole game an apology, not just a mealy-mouthed mea culpa to Manchester United.
The goal that won the Manchester derby was the result of devastating human incompetence that hangs over every match, and it’s coming for your team next.
In this age of AI overreach, with some predicting mass extinction inside a decade, it beggars belief that VAR is still subject to human involvement in the best league in the world.
Surely there is an algorithm out there capable of removing Michael Oliver and the lads at Stockley Park from the stage, the only sapiens on earth unable to spot the illegal agency of the flying Enzo Fernandez on Sunday.
When the statement dropped some hours after the match, it was the kind of half-arsed “If I caused any offence, I’m sorry” effort that reframed the cock-up as a protocol error.
The mistake was not failing to refer Oliver to the screen for review, as they suggested, but failing to recognise in the first place the explicit actions of Fernandez, who so obviously met the condition of being involved in the play.
#MUNMCI – 59’ VAR OVERTURNVAR checked the referee’s call of no goal for offside – and determined that Haaland was in an onside position and recommended that the goal was awarded.The VAR also deemed that while in an offside position, Fernandez didn’t play the ball. pic.twitter.com/TyTip3ACIh
— Premier League Match Centre (@PLMatchCentre) September 13, 2026In all of this it was hard to avoid the sense that Oliver is drawn to drama like the crew on Below Deck Mediterranean, the game face he presents the result of hours in front of a mirror perfecting that “look”.
There was a degree of sympathy for Oliver in the first VAR episode to scar the contest, the Phil Foden red card. This had more to do with the manipulation of officials via simulation.
Video analysis struggles to get to the truth of events that require human interpretation rather than measurable elements. Bruno Fernandes reacted to Foden’s boot as if kicked in the goolies by a mule.
Before that, Foden made the most of the contact offered by Fernandes in the “tackle”. The inverted commas are necessary here because Fernandes thinks tackle is solely related to fishing.
The “kick” on Foden had very little force, handbags really, more performative to suggest big man vibes on derby day. Slow motion always makes it look worse.
Foden jumped out of the initial contact, going to ground as if clobbered by a removal lorry. That was the first simulation. If he stands his ground instead of eating it, the escalation doesn’t happen.
Read more
Pete Hall: Michael Carrick has blown his big chance at Man Utd The Score: Man Utd’s Achilles heel, Liverpool are jumpy and Palace’s big problemBut, like they all do, he is looking for the free-kick, and invites Fernandes to respond in kind. Fernandes obliges theatrically, going full diva to con the ref. Only the fake blood was missing.
Foden was done not in the tackle, but in the con. It was hardly attempted murder, but there has to be some sympathy for Oliver having to pick apart an aggressive action in real time from a single viewpoint.
The point is VAR is not helpful in this type of example because the force involved can’t be measured by video. The visual impression created by the reaction of Fernandes was enough to persuade Oliver of Foden’s guilt. VAR actually did its job with the goal, but the humans failed it.
Hence then, the article about man utd are victims of devastating human incompetence was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Man Utd are victims of devastating human incompetence )
Also on site :
- Anthropologie’s Multicolored Glass and Stone Hoops Add Vintage-Style Elegance to Any Look for Just $30
- RYBREVANT FASPRO™ (amivantamab and hyaluronidase-lpuj) plus LAZCLUZE® (lazertinib) with prophylactic strategies shows low rates of treatment-related events at WCLC 2026
- 1966 Bob Dylan Hit, Ranked Among ‘Greatest Songs of All Time,’ Was Recorded in One Take on Valentine’s Day