It’s never nice losing a derby but it’s even harder to take when there is a massive injustice at the centre of it.

Just like you, I’ve read the law that relates to Manchester United’s equalizer at Old Trafford on Saturday and I can just about understand that the officials felt compelled to allow the goal to stand, but on what planet is that decision the right decision for football?

Marcus Rashford’s presence near the ball interferes with play. Manuel Akanji played Rashford offside by delaying his defensive run. The Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson became distracted by Rashford’s presence and didn’t anticipate the arrival of goal scorer Bruno Fernandez.

In the 'old days' the rule was much more simple. If a player interfered with play in an offside position, he was offside. Simple.

These days we live in an ever more litigious society, when it has to be written, on a bleach bottle, that the liquid might harm you if you drink it. Those who can read, already know. The referee at Old Trafford and the VAR officials know, as well as you and I do, that the Fernandez goal should have been ruled out, but the extra wording of the modern-day offside rule, they felt, meant the goal should stand.

The rule needs to go back to the older, simpler version.

I know there are fans who believe the goal would have been ruled out had it been scored by City at Old Trafford and would probably cite the Salah goal for Liverpool in their FA Cup tie against Wolves at Anfield and the disallowed Wolves winner, as evidence. The big club, the “history” club, particularly on their own ground, will always get the dodgy decision in their favour.

I can certainly agree that it must be challenging for the officials in the stadium to not be affected by loud, large partisan crowds, but there’s no excuse for those at Stockley Park who can analyse in their soundproof bunker with the help of technology and extra time. Unfortunately, the new wording of the offside laws effect them too.

If I believed the suggestions I’ve heard by some, that the decision wasn’t just a result of bad interpretation, but due to corruption, it would be time for me to walk away from the beautiful game. Who wants to watch a corrupt sport?

You already know that I hate VAR, but on this occasion VAR could have stepped in but didn’t. The assistant referee flagged for offside, the referee overruled him and VAR did nothing.

The wording of the law needs to be changed. As Brian Clough once said, “if he’s not interfering with play what is he doing on the pitch.” The rule used to be simple and it would have been offside, but our obsession with “small print” added to rules caused that mess at Old Trafford.

City were ahead and playing better than United at that stage, but there is a bigger picture to be assessed here too, which might become clearer after Thursday’s home game against Tottenham.

Are Manchester City showing signs of dropping below the high bar they’ve set for themselves in recent seasons? It’s not just the defeat at Old Trafford that makes me ask this question. The defeat by Brentford, the draw with Everton and the less convincing wins in other games are the reason for the question.

If City beat Spurs convincingly, in their next Premier League game, I will believe the title race is still on, but another wobble from Pep’s men will make me wonder if the team of ’22-’23 isn’t as strong as in previous seasons. Controversial refereeing decisions haven’t been a big factor in City’s recent successes because they used to win games more convincingly, but just recently there have been more games where one big moment, however that came, can decide a match.

Despite the derby day defeat though, it’s still Great to be a Blue!       

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