FANS were left fuming as Erling Haaland's Manchester City opener against Real Madrid was subject to a lengthy VAR check. The Norwegian's strike was finally given after it was deemed that he had been onside when Josko Gvardiol chested the ball down to him. Haaland scored in the 19th minute of the contest. It was nearly five minutes before the goal was confirmed, despite the Champions League using semi-automated offside technology.
![[Stadium jumbotron displays a VAR goal check message.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2025-big-screen-displays-var-971190588_055955.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
A visual graphic eventually illustrated that only Haaland's hand had been in an offside position. And as you cannot score with your hand, the forward was confirmed as being onside. Fans were left bewildered at the delay. One wrote on X: "I don’t think I’ve seen a longer VAR check before. If it’s clearly not offside give it as a goal and move on!". While a second sarcastically added: "Five minutes to confirm what was obvious. UEFA drama at its finest.".
![[Erling Haaland and Josko Gvardiol celebrating a goal.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2025-manchester-citys-erling-haaland-971190173.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
During the delay, Haaland could be seen exchanging words with Vinicius Jr. The Real Madrid star was mocked by a City tifo as the teams walked out. Vinicius had been left extremely disappointed when he missed out on the Ballon d'Or to Rodri. Real Madrid even boycotted the event over their winger's snub. Poking fun at Real's stance, City fans held up a huge image of Rodri kissing the Ballon d'Or trophy, with the Oasis lyrics: "Stop crying your heart out.".
