According to ESPN, Erling Haaland's goal in the Manchester derby sparked controversy around VAR, and the decision revealed shortcomings in video assistant referees' pursuit of absolute perfection.

Erling Haaland may be the most complete striker, but his goal in Manchester City's 1-0 victory over Manchester United on Sunday proved that even when video assistant referees (VAR) aim to ensure such perfection, perfection remains elusive.

Following successful trials at the 2018 World Cup, VAR was implemented in the Premier League in 2019. The technology was adopted by the world's most-watched league to make the most critical decisions clearer and more definitive, and to eliminate situations where referee errors decided match outcomes.

No more catastrophic offside mistakes, no more incorrect red cards; no more players escaping blatant fouls when the on-field referee didn't see them; and no more managers complaining about referee errors after losses. Controversy was supposed to become history, and everything would be perfect.

That was the world's view of VAR: a final arbiter quickly delivering justice on the pitch through video review. But video technology rests in human hands, perfection itself is subjective, and subjective judgment influences every decision-making process.

In the Manchester derby, Erling Haaland's goal was initially ruled out for offside by assistant referee Stuart Burt, and VAR's task was to verify whether that decision was correct. The VAR team had to answer three questions: Was Erling Haaland in an offside position, was there a foul during the goal, and was any other player in an offside position?

All three questions needed to be answered before the assistant referee's decision could be overturned. However, even after semi-automated technology showed Erling Haaland was not in an offside position, the VAR team still had to make subjective judgments on the second and third questions. Matthew Donohue was the VAR referee for this incident, with assistant referee Blake Antrobas.

There was no foul during the goal, so the second question was quickly answered. But the third question put the VAR team in trouble. The refereeing team ruled that Enzo Fernández of Manchester City was not challenging for the ball and did not obstruct the run of Manchester United defender Lisandro Martínez, even though the midfielder rushed to Guardiola's cross, attempting to head it.

This decision exposed a long-standing flaw in VAR. When faced with subjective judgments, different referees will have different interpretations. It can never be a perfect system unless AI replaces all referees and makes every correct decision in milliseconds.

But ironically, in a system that can never be perfect because humans are involved, referees attempt to make it perfect by overthinking and over-analyzing decisions that should be simple and clear.

Had Donohue and Antrobas correctly applied the rules of the game, they would have determined that Enzo Fernández was attempting to play the ball and also obstructed Lisandro Martínez's run. According to the rules, he was in an offside position on both counts. It's astonishing that they sat in front of video screens, pursuing what they thought was a perfect decision, only to turn a 100% correct call into a 100% wrong one.

Perfection was actually right in front of the VAR team, clearly written in the rules of the game. Yet they still added their own interpretation, making what may be one of the worst VAR errors in Premier League history.

Howard Webb, referee of the 2010 World Cup final and now head of Pro Ref, stated last month that he hopes VAR referees will maintain high standards when intervening in on-field decisions, only stepping in for clear referee errors. But his expectations didn't account for VAR referees repeatedly second-guessing decisions and the fear of "what if I'm wrong." They want to make the right call, but end up overlooking the most obvious things—and that's exactly what happened at Old Trafford.

Three hours after the final whistle on Sunday, Pro Ref issued a statement acknowledging that Erling Haaland's goal was a refereeing "mistake," but it was too late to change the match outcome. Pro Ref finally admitted the problem, but by the time Manchester United manager Michael Carrick and the players headed home, so-called perfection had indeed been achieved—perfection tainted by collective injustice.

Erling Haaland's goal could have significant consequences. Manchester United has earned just four points in four matches, matching the club's worst Premier League start. If this trend continues, pressure on Michael Carrick to keep his job will intensify. Manchester City played with ten men after Phil Foden received a red card in the 25th minute, and the match appeared headed for a draw; if Manchester City's narrow victory ultimately leads them to win the title by just one or two points, those two points could determine the championship.

If Erling Haaland's current tally eventually leads him to 261 league goals by the end of his Manchester City career, surpassing Alan Shearer's Premier League record of 260 goals, will there be an asterisk next to his name for that goal at Old Trafford that should never have counted?

All these outcomes are possible, and none of them are perfect. But they will all stem directly from that VAR decision in the 199th Manchester derby.

Perfect? Far from it.

Переведено ИИ.

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