Manchester City played 67 minutes of the Manchester derby with ten men, had two shots all afternoon, and won. Erling Haaland scored the only goal at Old Trafford on Sunday, VAR spent several minutes deciding whether to allow it, and by Monday evening the referees’ own governing body had admitted it got the call wrong. Four games into the Premier League season, City and Arsenal are both perfect on 12 points, United are 13th, and the result is not changing.
Here is how a game City should have lost became the result that defines the early season.
The red card that changed everything
It took 23 minutes to go wrong for City. Phil Foden was fouled and went down. Bruno Fernandes kicked out at him on the ground. Foden kicked back, referee Michael Oliver saw only the second kick, and Foden was sent off. Fernandes stayed on the pitch, and was not even booked for his part.
Enzo Maresca did not hide his view afterward: “It can be a red card, but in the same action can be a red card for Bruno.” He has a point. But a red card is a red card, and City had an hour and a bit to survive in the loudest stadium in England.
United hit the woodwork twice and the target barely at all
What followed was one of the strangest halves of football you will see this season. United had the extra man, the home crowd and the ball, and produced almost nothing. Marcus Rashford powered a free kick onto the post just before halftime. Kobbie Mainoo struck the post from 25 yards after the break. In between, United’s possession went nowhere.
The numbers were remarkable. United finished with five shots. City finished with two. The expected goals were 0.16 for United and 0.09 for City, which is to say that a 90-minute derby produced about a quarter of a goal’s worth of chances in total. When a team with 11 players cannot create against a team with 10, the problem is not the numbers on the pitch.
The goal, and the admission that followed
On the hour, Josko Gvardiol drove a low cross across the United box. Enzo Fernandez, who was clearly in an offside position, lunged at it and missed. The ball ran through to Haaland, who was onside, and he finished. The flag went up. Then VAR got involved.
The question was whether Fernandez, offside, had interfered with play by lunging at the cross and taking Senne Lammens and a defender with him. The on-field call was offside. VAR checked, confirmed Haaland himself was onside, and awarded the goal without sending Michael Oliver to the monitor. Old Trafford erupted. Michael Carrick, afterward, was blunt: “Not even confused. It’s a staggering decision.” Lisandro Martinez said the ruling went against the basic logic of the game.
On Monday evening, Professional Game Referees, the body that runs officiating in English football, agreed with them. In a statement it said contact had been made with Manchester United “to acknowledge what we deem is an error of judgement.” Haaland was onside, but the VAR “did not recognise the likely impact” of Fernandez’s offside position “and should have recommended an on-field review.” A full review of the incident will follow.
What that means in practice: the referee should have been asked to look at the screen, and the likeliest outcome of that look was no goal. What it does not mean is a replay. The result stands, the three points stand, and United are left with an apology and a grievance that will last a lot longer than a week.
What is not in dispute is the striker. Haaland now has nine goals and three assists in 11 Premier League derbies, and this one came off a total of two City attempts. “It’s kind of a new experience to win down to 10 men,” he said afterward. That is what a 59-goals-in-59-Champions-League-games player does to a match: he makes the one chance count, and he makes the other 89 minutes irrelevant.
Donnarumma shut the door
The other City hero was the man in goal. Gianluigi Donnarumma, whose distribution drew a few nervous reviews in City’s Champions League opener at Porto, did the thing he has always done best. Deep into stoppage time, Bryan Mbeumo got a clean look from point-blank range and Donnarumma got down to it. That is the difference between a chaotic 1-1 and a derby win that will be talked about for a decade.
Two perfect teams, one obvious title race
Pull back from Old Trafford and the shape of the season is already visible. Arsenal beat Sunderland 2-0 on Saturday, with David Raya saving a penalty, Bruno Guimaraes scoring two minutes after coming on, and Bukayo Saka adding a stoppage-time penalty. That is four wins from four, eight goals scored and one conceded. City have the same 12 points and eight goals, with two conceded. Nobody else is close.
Behind them the table is a mess in the best way. Hull City, back in the top flight after a decade away, are third and unbeaten after drawing 2-2 at Chelsea, where Mohamed Belloumi scored twice before halftime. Brighton are fourth after putting five past Coventry. Liverpool, held 0-0 at home by Fulham, are seventh with one win in four under Andoni Iraola, and the questions about that appointment are getting louder. Tottenham have not scored a Premier League goal all season. Coventry have not won a point, and have not scored either.
We wrote before the season that the margins at the top would be thin. Four weeks in, the two teams at the top are separated by one goal of goal difference, and they have not played each other yet. Everything until they do is about who blinks first.
What it means for United
This is the part Carrick cannot argue away with VAR. United had 67 minutes against ten men at home and could not score. They are 13th with four points from four games, they have already lost twice, and their best moments on Sunday came from a free kick and a long-range shot that both hit the post. Beating Sabah 4-0 in the Champions League on Thursday papered over some of that. Sunday tore the paper off.
The derby is done, the apology is filed, and the table does not care about either. City go into the next round unbeaten and unbowed. United go in looking for an answer to a question that predates this manager, this striker and this season: when the game is there to be taken, who takes it?
