Opinion

VAR chaos and controversy in Champions League tie between Manchester City and Tottenham proves tech is not yet ready

Manchester City fans go from joy to despair after Raheem Sterling’s late goal is dramatically chalked off after being reviewed

This season’s Uefa Champions League has been repeatedly marred by VAR incidents

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The stadium screen rules out a Manchester City winner after VAR review. Photo: EPA

Formerly of the South China Morning Post, Jonathan White has written about sport from China for nearly 15 years, and covered the Beijing 2008 Olympics, the Fifa World Cup in Brazil in 2014 and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Published: 1:57pm, 18 Apr 2019Updated: 4:56pm, 18 Apr 2019

No matter your club allegiance, you’d be hard pressed to feel anything but sympathy for Manchester City’s players and fans after last night.

All was well in the blue half of Manchester when Raheem Sterling stroked home what seemed to be the winner in the 94th minute of their ding-dong battle with Spurs.

Sterling led the celebrations, steaming to the corner to mark the hat-trick goal that had put City in the semi-finals of the Uefa Champions League for only the second time in their history. The crowd went wild.

Meanwhile, the Spurs players and supporters were crestfallen. Their chance of European glory and a first semi-final for 57 years had slipped through their fingers.

Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling celebrates before his goal was disallowed for offside. Photo: AP

And then everything flipped on its head. Celebrations became commiserations and confusion and vice versa thanks to VAR deciding Sergio Aguero was offside in the build-up.