VAR controversy: offside or not? Manchester City and Arsenal goal incidents in the spotlight

You can’t make up for it, really. After only 24 hours Manchester City A controversial goal was disallowed via VAR. Arsenal He saw their position.

Two UEFA Cup semi-finals, two very similar offside situations, two different results.

Supporters crave consistency, so it’s understandable that questions are asked.

How can the VAR system score a goal one time and let it stand the other?

When Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo thought he had scored the second goal in the 2-0 win over Newcastle United on Tuesday, no one seemed to have any idea anything was unexpected.

VAR Stuart Attwell then told referee Chris Kavanagh that Erling Haaland’s offside had an impact on Malik Thiaw’s defense when the ball passed on its way into goal.

Fast forward to Wednesday and Ben White’s goal in Arsenal’s 3-2 win over Chelsea. The ball was evaded by Victor Gyukiris, who was struggling with Chelsea’s Marc Guyot. VAR stayed out of it.

Offside against Haaland is technically valid under the law but is a VAR override. This is not the type of tackle we have seen in the Premier League, so the same is expected to happen in the Carabao Cup.

Target incidents were similar but not identical. Haaland was effectively protecting the path of the ball and could be seen as preventing Thiao from reaching it.

However, Guiu had his back to the play when White headed the ball over and was not looking at the ball. It is difficult to say that the Chelsea player was in a position to stop the goal.