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VAR bites Man City late again in draw with Tottenham

Manchester City dropped points for the first time this new English Premier League season with Video Review doing them zero favors in the dying moments of Saturday’s marquee clash with Tottenham.

Gabriel Jesus looked to have given Pep Guardiola’s side a late 3-2 win over Tottenham on Matchday 2, but his goal was waved off by referee Michael Oliver. A cross deflected off of Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte’s arm before bouncing to Jesus, who stroked home the go-ahead goal. Laporte knew nothing about the ball as he was facing downwards, but the bounce helped it find the feet of Jesus.

A recent change in FIFA’s Laws of the Game states that any handball in the penalty box by an offensive player will negate any subsequent goal scores in the same sequence. Oliver wasted little time overturning the decision which left Guardiola, his team, and City fans frustrated at the final whistle.

Tottenham hit back twice to take a point back to London, once again seeing VAR go in their favor in the late stages of a match. VAR wiped off Raheem Sterling’s possible go-ahead goal against Tottenham in last season’s UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, which saw Tottenham proceed to advanceĀ  to the final.

VAR has played a role in several matches this season since its introduction to the Premier League, wiping off a City goal last weekend at West Ham. However, City did benefit from VAR on a penalty kick after Hammers goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski left his line too early.

It also saw Wolverhampton Wanderers leave Leicester with a scoreless draw last weekend after an offside call on a Wolves goal was reviewed and overturned.

The ending was a cruel one for a Manchester City that dominated the majority of Saturday’s match, out-shooting Tottenham 30-3, with Kevin DeBruyne carving up Tottenham’s defense with a whopping nine key passes. Unfortunately for Manchester City, Spurs scored on their only two shots on goal, an Erik Lamela finish and Lucas Moura’s second-half header.

Manchester City will resume its quest to repeat as Premier League champions with a trip to Bournemouth on August 25, while Tottenham returns to action at home against winless Newcastle.

Comments

  1. what’s ruining the game for me are all the fouling losers who hack hack hack and then act like they are the victims when the whistle blows. BARF. I don’t care if you want to play like that, but have the balls to own it when you do. Too much of that BS in aspects outside of soccer too where the perp acts like the victim. Weak

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