Why Bruno Fernandes' goal against Man City was allowed to stand
Saturday's Manchester derby saw the reigning Premier League champions travel across town to meet Erik ten Hag's improving side.
Manchester City took the lead on the hour mark as Jack Grealish headed in Kevin De Bruyne's cross three minutes after replacing Phil Foden.
United managed to respond with an equaliser approaching the final ten minutes before Marcus Rashford rattled in a second in quick succession to put the hosts ahead.
Bruno Fernandes's strike was met with some referee and official indecision, so why was it allowed to stand?
Why Bruno Fernandes' goal stood vs Manchester City
A tight first half ended goalless before visiting manager Pep Guardiola changed things up by bringing on Grealish for Foden. He was rewarded three minutes later as Grealish nodded in De Bruyne's floated cross.
In the 78th minute, however, United drew level. Casemiro's curling through ball found its way around the City defence as Marcus Rashford gave chase. The forward - running from an offside position - didn't reach the ball and it instead fell for Fernandes, who whipped in a brilliant finish from the edge of the box.
The strike was initially met with an offside flag, drawing a slight meltdown from Fernandes as he berated the officials, but VAR Michael Oliver soon checked the goal. He adjudged Rashford had not interfered in play enough to disallow the goal, allowing it to stand.
On this edition of TPL, Scott Saunders & Rob Blanchette discuss how to solve Man Utd's issue at centre-forward & Ten Hag's striker plans. The guys talk Wout Weghorst, the fact João Felix is no longer on the market, Victor Osimhen, Harry Kane, Benjamin Sesko & more! If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
What did Bruno Fernandes say about the goal?
Fernandes revealed why his goal stood during his post-match interviews, claiming it was allowed because he was facing goal.
"I think because I was facing the goal, Marcus thought I was in a better position," he said regarding why Rashford left the ball.
"I didn't know if any of us were offside or not, but it didn't make a difference because no one was close to him, so the team [Man City] has to defend. The only one close was one close to me."
"Honestly, it's always important to win the game. As the manager said before the game. It doesn't matter who the opponent is, what matters is winning and we did it. It was an amazing comeback, a great effort from the team.
"I said it before the game to the team: 'we look like a team now'. Some time ago, sometimes you saw a team, sometimes we looked a bit for ourselves. Now you see a team that works hard for each other. You see that it pays."