Manchester United got off to a dream start Sunday at the Theatre of Dreams, but not without controversy.
VAR twice ruled in favor of the Red Devils in the first half of Sunday's rivalry match with Liverpool FC at Old Trafford, upholding Marcus Rashford's 36th-minute goal and overturning Sadio Mané's apparent equalizer in the 44th minute.
Rashford finished off United's counter-attacking move to give them a 1-0 lead over the English Premier League leaders. Liverpool claimed Man United defender Victor Lindelof fouled striker Divock Origi to spring the counter, but VAR upheld the goal, as it was deemed not to be a "clear and obvious" mistake.
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"[There] is contact from Lindelof, but it's debatable whether it's a foul," NBC Sports analyst Robbie Earle observed at halftime. "If it's debatable, it's not a clear and obvious error."
Mané seemed to tie the match just before halftime, gathering a ball in the box and sliding it past United keeper David de Gea. VAR again was called into action, and Mané's goal was overturned after replays indicated it bounced off of his hand before he gained possession.
The call was by the book, according to NBC Sports analyst Kyle Martino, but Martino questioned the rule itself.
"VAR does the right thing here ... because there's a rule that says if you touch the ball with your hand -- or a teammate does -- and you get possession, then you can't score from it," Martino explained. "It's a terrible rule because this is not an intentional handball. He's trying to collect the ball of this thigh, then it skips and hits his hand. Then he doesn't have possession of the ball, the ball bounces and actually hits Lindelof before [Mané] gets on the end of it."
Soccer
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was visibly frustrated with the officials after both calls, perhaps in part because the German has not yet won at Old Trafford during his tenure with the Reds.