United robbed? Why ex-Man City keeper and former PGMOL chief say City goal should not have stood

Manchester City beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday, but the goal that decided the derby has created a huge debate.

And there is a strong argument that it should never have stood.

Erling Haaland scored the winner in the 60th minute after Josko Gvardiol played the ball across the United penalty area.

The assistant initially raised his flag for offside, but after a lengthy VAR check, the decision was overturned. Haaland was shown to be onside, with Patrick Dorgu's foot playing him on.

But Haaland was not really the problem.

Enzo Fernandez was.

Fernandez was in an offside position and made an attempt to reach the ball before it eventually found Haaland.

Lisandro Martinez, who was tracking Fernandez, reacted to that movement.

VAR decided Fernandez had not played the ball and therefore had not committed an offside offence.

But a player does not necessarily have to touch the ball to be penalised for offside.

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg believes the goal should not have been allowed, and former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett has now reached the same conclusion.

Hackett believes the original decision was correct because Fernández became active when he attempted to play the ball from an offside position.

"The goal should have been ruled out for offside," Hackett said, arguing that Fernández had made a deliberate attempt to play the ball.

Gary Neville also strongly disagreed with the decision, arguing that Fernandez's attempt to play the ball clearly affected Martinez.

And interestingly, even former Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart could not understand how the goal was allowed.

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick was equally frustrated.

His argument was that Fernandez's movement forced Martinez to react, meaning the City midfielder was influencing the play despite never touching the ball.

Carrick described the incident as "as obvious as it gets".

And that is really what the controversy comes down to.

That should not completely take away from City's performance, though.

Playing with 10 men for more than an hour after Phil Foden was sent off, City still found a way to win at Old Trafford. There may be serious question marks over the winning goal, but overall, they probably deserved the victory.

The goal officially stands.

But this has been a major talking point along wth the red card Foden received in the same agame.