Michael Oliver was VAR in Manchester Derby 3 years before controversial goal incident

On September 13, Manchester United FC lost to Manchester City FC 0-1 at home, with Haaland scoring the winning goal. However, the goal decision sparked controversy. After the match, the Premier League officially confirmed that the referee's decision was incorrect. Coincidentally, a similar controversy occurred in the Manchester Derby in January 2023, and the VAR official for that match was Michael Oliver, who was also the referee yesterday.

Bruno Fernandes scored in the 2023 Manchester Derby

At that time, Casemiro played a long pass. Although Rashford did not touch the ball, he was in an offside position that interfered with the opposing defender's ability to play the ball. Bruno Fernandes then scored after receiving the ball.

The referee for that match was Atwell, and Michael Oliver served as VAR.

The goal was initially flagged as offside for Rashford by the assistant referee. However, after communicating with the assistant referee, referee Atwell overturned the initial decision and ruled the goal valid.