playGabriele MarcottiSep 14, 2026, 09:22 AM ETCloseGabriele Marcotti is a senior soccer writer for ESPN.com. Read his archive here and follow him on Twitter: @Marcotti.Multiple AuthorsOpen Extended ReactionsAnother European soccer weekend is in the books, and there is a lot to talk about. We’ll begin with Sunday’s tempestuous derby at Old Trafford: Manchester City beat Manchester United 1-0 thanks to a goal that shouldn’t have stood, with a red card for Phil Foden (that was right) and no censure for Bruno Fernandes (which was wrong) in a game that’ll forever be remembered for VAR errors than anything else.Real Madrid picked up a huge home win over Rayo Vallecano, but Jose Mourinho’s side was still booed for second-half sloppiness by a fanbase that demands maximum effort at all times. The same happened to Chelsea, as Xabi Alonso’s side were bullied at home by newly promoted Hull City and were lucky to get a draw.Elsewhere, we got talking points galore for Tottenham (who are still scoreless in the Premier League), Paris Saint-Germain (who finally got a win in Ligue 1), Barcelona (who keep winning big despite not having a world-class center forward), Arsenal (who stayed perfect with victory at Sunderland), Bayern Munich (who ruined the Elversberg fairytale) and much, much more.It’s Monday morning, so what better time for some musings?
Let’s get into it.- Manchester derby reaction: Short-handed City outplay Man United – Premier League VAR review: Wrongly awarded goal costs United – Hamilton: Hull show why Chelsea fans are in for a rough ride this seasonReferee admission is scant consolation for Man United, but still hugely important for the game after Derby defeatThis incident pretty much overshadowed the game itself, because it’s not something we see very often at all, so let’s start with that.Just before the hour mark, with the game deadlocked at 0-0 and City playing with 10 men since the 23rd minute — when Phil Foden was sent off for kicking Bruno Fernandes — Josko Gvardiol’s sent in a cross that was slightly deflected by Patrick Dorgu into the path of Erling Haaland, who buried the chance. Your first instinct, watching on TV, was that Haaland was clearly offside. Apparently not, according to the Premier League’s semi-automated offside technology. Fair enough — I’ll trust the big-brained machine with the optical cameras measuring 29 data points per player 50 times a second.But once it was determined that Haaland was marginally onside, the issue became Enzo Fernández, who obviously wasn’t.- Ogden: Derby mess shows VAR’s quest for perfection is doomed to failThe Argentine midfielder didn’t actually touch the ball, but threw himself into its flight path and attempted a header.
Lucky for City that he missed — just — because he was clearly offside before the ball was played in. The question though is whether he was interfering with an opponent — or, as the offside law puts it, “clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts an opponent” — which would have turned his passive offside into an active one.play1:12Leboeuf on Foden’s red card in Manchester derby: ‘It’s a joke!’Very obviously, he was. The fact that he moved toward the ball not only affected Senne Lammens’ positioning — had Fernandez not been there, the keeper might have had a better shot at stopping Haaland’s finish — but also Lisandro Martínez, who was initially covering Haaland, but left him unmarked when he saw Fernandez’s movement. Procedurally, it’s a subjective call, which is why VAR should have asked referee Michael Oliver to conduct an on-field review to see if he agreed with 99.9% of humanity.Apparently, the notion that Fernandez was interfering from an offside position didn’t occur to Video Assistant Referee Matt Donohue and Assistant video assistant referee Blake Antrobus.
All they did was inform Oliver of the semi-automated offside technology’s verdict, which determined that Haaland was onside and led to the overturning of the on-field decision that he was off. As mistakes go, this isn’t an error judgement: it’s an error in procedure, not far off a surgeon leaving a scalpel inside you after a surgery.So, credit is due to Pro Ref — the name of rebranded referees’ association, previously known as the catchy PGMOL — for issuing the statement admitting to the mistake within a few hours. People drop clangers — it happens — and while it won’t change anything for United, two things matter here: accountability and education. Pro Ref nailed the first one, and now it’s important that it gets the second one right too, reviewing the audio, educating itself on exactly what went wrong with Donohue and Antrobus, and using it to make the refereeing crews better.However, I’d also call Oliver into question here as well.
He’s one of the top referees in the world: He was watching too and could see Fernandez. You would expect him (and fourth official Paul Tierney) to ask the guys in the VAR room: “Hey fellas, what’s up with Enzo? You sure he wasn’t interfering? Want me to take a look at it?” Maybe that’s exactly what happened and if so, it makes the VAR guys look even worse.The other big talking point here was Foden’s early red card, and I thought it was the correct call.
It doesn’t really matter how much force he used in kicking out at Bruno Fernandes, or that he was reacting to being fouled and then kicked while on the ground. But Bruno shouldn’t have gotten away with his little kick either. Foden was lying between him and the ball; Bruno is experienced and gifted enough to know early what he was doing. He should have been booked.Sadly, all this talk of refereeing distracts us a bit from the game itself, which is a shame, because City playing 70-odd minutes a man down away from home in a derby and more than holding their own is significant.
It shows character, intelligence and steel — qualities that aren’t really to be taken for granted when you consider that five of the players who started the second half have been at the club for less than a year, which means it’s not really a case of them inheriting Pep Guardiola’s stardust or being steeped in some kind of winning mentality.As for United, you could parse this game down to incidents and tell yourself they deserved three points. There was Haaland’s goal, of course, but also Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo hitting the woodwork and Bryan Mbeumo’s late chance that Gianluigi Donnarumma brilliantly snuffed out. And sure, but for a few centimeters (and a bit of competence from VAR), United might have won this game 3-0. But that would have been fool’s gold because in terms of performance, United remain far behind City.Prior to Mbeumo’s change in the fifth of injury time, United had recorded 0.39 xG, while playing 70-plus minutes with an extra man.
At home. Rashford and Mainoo’s chances were low-xG moments of individual quality, not the result of a coherent, productive approach. There’s still a ton of work for manager Michael Carrick to do.Up 3-1 at home and getting booed by your own fans? Welcome to the Bernabéu!When I heard the whistles and jeers ringing out from my TV on Saturday, I thought back to something Carlo Ancelotti told me years ago about Real Madrid: “The Bernabéu is the only place in the world where you can be 5-0 up and your own fans will boo you.”OK, it wasn’t quite 5-0.
Real Madrid had gone 3-0 up in a dominant first half, but didn’t begin the second stanza well. The home side had given the ball away cheaply, leading to Pedro Diaz hitting the post and Unai López coming close. Then, with six minutes gone, Vinícius Júnior was late to a pass, Rayo stole the ball and Sergio Camello put it through Ibrahima Konaté’s legs to make it 3-1. But still, the whistles and jeers rang out.You don’t really hear that anywhere else.
It’s easy to talk about excellence and standards and a demanding fanbase, but plenty of other clubs also win plenty without getting abuse from their own fans if they make a mistake.
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