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Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez has criticised Premier League officiating and VAR after Erling Haaland scored the disputed winner in a 1-0 derby loss to Manchester City. The Argentina centre-back said an offside Enzo Fernandez clearly influenced the phase of play before Haaland finished, with the Red Devils left down in 13th place.

Haaland strike sparks anger

Even though Phil Foden was shown a straight red card in the 23rd minute for his challenge on Bruno Fernandes, the visitors still took all three points through a rapid counter on the hour mark. Haaland scored the match-winning goal from Josko Gvardiol's low delivery after VAR allowed the goal to stand, despite Fernandez appearing to challenge for the ball from an offside position. After failing to make their extra man count, United were forced to accept a painful home defeat.

Martinez hits out at officials

The Argentina centre-back was furious with the VAR call that saw City's 60th-minute winner given. He insisted Fernandez's run from an offside position clearly affected the defensive line before Haaland put the ball in the net.

Speaking to ESPN after the final whistle, Martinez said: "It is more than clear, everyone saw it. Haaland's goal was clearly influenced by the incident, because I tracked him and that left Haaland unmarked behind us. But it's fine, just a few games in and they already have plenty to sort out."

The 28-year-old first tried to hold back his frustration to avoid possible punishment from the Football Association (FA). Even so, he strongly questioned the standard of referee Michael Oliver and the VAR officials in the Premier League.

"The referees here... I can't say too much because if you say anything, you get punished for nothing, sometimes just for speaking the truth. But that's fine, we have to accept it now and let them and everyone else see the obvious mistakes and decisions," he added.

"What I don't understand is: with so many cameras here, in the best league in the world, with so many people watching, leaving it in the hands of five or six people sitting there who keep making these decisions is unbelievable... It affects you, it takes three points away from you, it hurts, you lose a derby, but it is what it is."

Defender calls for urgent improvement

The Argentina international also said the opposition's red card ended up working against his side. Although United had 55 percent possession to City's 45 percent, they struggled to produce clear openings because of City's deep defensive shape.

Looking back at the challenge of playing against ten men, Martinez said: "Yes, without a doubt... Sometimes you think that against ten men you will obviously have more possession, but we couldn't create real danger because they sat deep. Still, we have to adapt to the game and to what unfolds. We were doing really well when it was 11 v 11, then Foden was sent off and everything changed completely. And well, they have fast players who keep possession very well, and they did what they had to do."

The derby defeat adds to a poor start to the season for United, who are 13th in the table after conceding in every league game: "We are not in our best moment, and we haven't started the way we wanted to, obviously. We lack the consistency required to win matches no matter what. Sometimes you play poorly, sometimes you play well, but you have to win. Clearly, we have a lot of things to improve. We need to be very self-critical and show a completely different side of ourselves."

Cup tie offers chance to respond

Michael Carrick's team must quickly recover when they host Brighton in the Carabao Cup third round on Wednesday, September 16. Their resolve in domestic competition will then be tested away at Fulham before a meeting with Tottenham Hotspur next month. The manager needs to find an effective formula quickly to stop the defensive mistakes and move the club away from the bottom half of the table.