Manchester City striker Erling Haaland scored the winner in the derby as the Blues beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford

Erling Haaland admitted he took the prospect of him being offside for his derby day winner personally as 10-man Manchester City beat Manchester United.

City were reduced to 10 men after Phil Foden received a red card for lashing out at Bruno Fernandes in the first half. However, it was City who hit the front on the hour mark when Haaland steered in Josko Gvardiol’s deflected cross. Initially, the assistant referee raised his flag but VAR officials at Stockley Park checked the decision and, after a lengthy delay, found that Haaland was in line with the ball when Gvardiol crossed.

Then, the attention turned to Enzo Fernandez in the centre. He was in an offside position but crucially did not touch the ball. This was enough to satisfy VAR that the offside should be overruled and the goal should stand.

When asked about the goal at full time, Haaland told Sky Sports: “I thought maybe someone flicked it. When I found out no one flicked it, I took it personally that they thought I was offside because I’m never usually offside.

“It’s always nice to win football games, but especially with 10 men for 60 minutes at Old Trafford, it’s such a nice feeling, especially with the fans at the end. To look at all the faces of the supporters at the end is just a great feeling.”

City were thankful to Gianluigi Donnarumma in added time when he produced a superb save to deny Bryan Mbeumo. Replays showed the United man may have been offside, but that did not detract from the quality of the save.

On his goalkeeper, Haaland added: “What a save from Gianluigi Donnarumma at the end as well. He’s like a wolf in the goal, he looks like a wolf anyway.

“He’s a mad man and to have a guy like that in the goal behind you just makes you feel so much more safe.”

Jaxson Dart decided to bring some sort of “lucky charm” when arriving for the first game of the 2026 season, and fans were confused about what to make of it.

On Sunday, the New York Giants quarterback was spotted wearing a black suit and shades and carrying a black bag and a drink as he entered MetLife Stadium for a game against the Dallas Cowboys:

There was a variety of reactions to the sighting:

The game against the Cowboys marks Dart’s first time starting a Week 1 game, as he sat on the bench behind Russell Wilson in his 2025 debut. During practice on Wednesday, he expressed his excitement at this milestone:

“I think that I’ve just been waiting for this. I think this is just the coolest stage, the coolest opportunity to play in front of our fans, Sunday night football against a team like the Cowboys and go out there and compete and it’s going to be an electric atmosphere and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

Meanwhile, head coach Jim Harbaugh spoke about his mindset entering the game:

“I know he’s prepared. He couldn’t have prepared any more or work any harder, or been more determined to be ready. I know he knows the game plan. … He’s worked really hard. He’s diligent. He wants to do well. He wants to understand everything inside out. He wants to be sharp and on point. So, he’s prepared to play.”

Giants OC Matt Nagy gets candid on plans for Jaxson Dart in Week 1 opener vs. Cowboys

A day after John Harbaugh and Jaxson Dart spoke, it was offensive coordinator Matt Nagy’s turn, among others’. In his media session, he expressed his vision of letting the quarterback “be himself”:

“We want Jaxson to be able to play fast. … And it’s our job as coaches to take all this time that we’ve had to do it. And that’s what we’ve put together: a game plan that we think is to his strengths. But at the same time, we got to make sure that there’s going to be times where we just got to let him cut it loose and continue to build every week.”

He continued:

“This isn’t ‘There’s going to be good plays, there’s going to be bad plays,’ but how does he keep that up? … So, I want him to stay calm, extremely confident, play fast and execute and just be a complete leader, but also just be himself, man. Cut it loose and have fun.”

Kickoff for the Giants-Cowboys game is at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.