Video Assistant Referee technology (VAR) reversed the its first decision in Premier League history as it was used to rule out Manchester City‘s third goal against West Ham United.
City were leading 2-0 at the time when David Silva slid in Raheem Sterling behind the West Ham defence, who squared for Gabriel Jesus to tap home.
The assistant referee kept his flag down but the video official, watching on from Stockley Park in London, reviewed the move and ruled that Sterling was offside by a matter of inches, with his shoulder leaning just across the defensive line.
City players and fans were aghast at the decision, which appeared extremely tight on an image on the big screen at the London Stadium where lines rising up from the pitch showed the narrowest of offside calls.
Jesus had already scored a goal earlier in the game and Sterling added a second in the second half after a bursting run from Kevin De Bruyne, as City looked set to get their latest title defence off to the perfect start.
