Erling Haaland's goal in Manchester City's 1-0 win over Manchester United highlighted VAR's ongoing struggles with subjective interpretation. After assistant referee Stuart Burt initially ruled Haaland offside, VAR officials Matthew Donohue and Blake Antrobus reviewed the play. While technology confirmed Haaland was onside, the officials faced three critical questions regarding the build-up.

Ultimately, they ruled that Enzo Fernandez was not challenging for the ball nor obstructing Lisandro Martinez's path, despite attempting to head Josko Gvardiol's cross. This decision sparked debate, as many argued the officials misapplied the Laws of the Game regarding offside interference. The incident underscores the inherent flaw of VAR: human subjectivity prevents a truly perfect system, even with semi-automated offside technology.

As Howard Webb noted, officials are urged to intervene only for obvious errors, yet the pursuit of perfection often leads to controversial outcomes that defy the written laws of the game.