'F---ing Joke'—How VAR Has Repeatedly Haunted Man Utd, Including the Official Who Stole Their Derby Victory

VAR official Matt Donohue's controversial role in Erling Haaland's incorrectly awarded match-winning goal for Manchester City in Sunday's derby was not his first disputed involvement with Manchester United, but it could be his last for some time.

Donohue served as the video assistant referee who validated Haaland's winner, failing to account for any interference by Enzo Fernández, who had lunged toward the ball in front of Lisandro Martínez from an offside position. The Premier League's official refereeing authority Pro Ref later labeled the call an "error of judgement" on the part of the VAR.

Following that very public mistake, Donohue and his assistant Blake Antrobus have been left off the officiating roster for the upcoming weekend's round of Premier League fixtures. The Daily Mail reports that the organization has gone even further, "blocking" the duo from overseeing any United matches "for the foreseeable future."

How Michael Carrick will respond to this development remains to be seen, though the frustrated United manager was far from satisfied at the prospect of receiving an apology from Pro Ref. "Yeah, that'd be great, that. Yeah, I can't wait for that one," he remarked, his tone laced with sarcasm.