Marcus Rashford scored after the break to double Manchester United's lead last night in their 2-1 win over Liverpool.
Erik Ten Hag's men got their first points of the season at Old Trafford against their arch enemies thanks to Rashford's strike and Jadon Sancho's first-half goal.
Mo Salah pulled one back for Liverpool in the final ten minutes, but it wasn't enough for his side who have failed to win a league game this season.
Interestingly, Rashford's goal in the 53rd minute wouldn't have stood under the original VAR rules.
Dale Johnson, who is the Editor of ESPN FC, took to Twitter last night to explain.
The goal was onside due to the tolerance level which was added to VAR last summer.
When a player is onside due to the tolerance level one green line is shown to viewers drawn to the opposing defender.
Marcus Rashford was onside for Manchester United's second goal due to the tolerance level which was added to VAR offside last summer.
Would have been offside in 2020-21.
When a player is onside due to tolerance level one green line is shown, drawn to the defender.
#MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/3SRpOPX7fN— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) August 22, 2022
Manchester United also fall victim of VAR offside tolerance
The tolerance level has worked against Manchester United also in recent games.
With the level applied, Teemu Pukki's equaliser for Norwich last season was allowed, while Pascal Groß's opening goal for Brighton in their 4-0 win at Old Trafford at the start of the season also stood as Danny Welbeck was deemed to be onside before he assisted the German.
Manchester United have conceded two goals in recent games due to the tolerance level being applied.
Against Norwich in April and Brighton on the first weekend of the season. pic.twitter.com/shzpPYN2UI— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) August 22, 2022
Johnson argues that Liverpool fans were calling for the introduction of a tolerance level more than fans from any other club, due to the fact that they were "suffering most" from it.
This tweet from Johnson backs up his point.
Analysis of how margin of error could have affected all 16 VAR offside decisions in the Prem.
- 5 of 14 disallowed count
- Of the 5, 3 are Liverpool
- Three could have changed result (2 Liverpool)
- Only goal allowed would be ruled out on "Umpire's Call"
A thread.— Dale Johnson (@DaleJohnsonESPN) December 2, 2020
It is anticipated that this will be the last Premier League season with manual VAR offside.
UEFA has introduced semi-automated offside technology for the Champions League and it will also be used at the World Cup.
Specialised cameras will be able to track 29 different body points per player and a sensor in the ball will allow for more accurately determining the moment a pass is played.
The wait time for offside decisions is expected to drop from 70 to 25 seconds.
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