VAR Cancels City's Late Winner against Spurs in 2-2 Draw

Let's be clear, here.

The stakes -- placement money, tournament revenues, gambling returns, you name it -- have gotten so high in major sports that punters, fans, and clubs all want total accuracy.

As such, technology has arrived on the scene to provide it.

So even what the referee doesn't see is what you get.

Manchester City's been finding that out in spades in the early season.

 

With the new hand ball rules this season -- in short: no touchy, period -- VAR looks like it's gonna play an even bigger role.

For the moment, Spurs are cool with that.

But beware ...

 

In this one, Pep Guardiola's side ended up with 30 shots but only two goals scored. On the other hand, Tottenham had three chances, and two ended up in the promised land.

Therein lies the ironic reality of football. The only stat that matters is the final score, and in this case it was a 2-2 draw.

 

City roared outta the gate with all they had, intent on making a statement against a fellow big-brand side. It was effective, as Spurs couldn't even get into their attacking half.

After many wasted chances, the hosts finally broke through at the 20-minute mark. Kevin de Bruyne was the architect, playing a pinpoint delivery to Raheem Sterling, who cleverly finished across Hugo Lloris:

 

Tottenham woke up after that, drawing level three minutes later, thanks to Ederson's poor positioning.

Erik Lamela accepted the ball down the middle, drove forward, perceived City's 'keeper in terrible position, and knocked one home from distance:

 

Undeterred and keeping their pedal to the metal, City restored their lead in the 35th minute.

De Bruyne was once again the playmaker, placing a perfect cross to Sergio Agüero, who gets paid well to do this kinda thing:

 

City opened the second half the same way they did the first, pushing hard but wasting chances. They were punished for this inefficiency when Mauricio Pochettino introduced Lucas Moura into the game on 56 minutes.

The Brazilian made an immediate impact, equalizing with a header from Lamela's cross:

 

It took him all of 20 seconds on the pitch to do the job.

Soon thereafter, Big Brother took over.

In the 66th minute, Guardiola subbed Agüero off for Gabriel Jesus, which Argentine didn't take very well. Dude wound up exchanging bad words with his Spanish manager over the move.

 

For a moment, though, it looked as if Guardiola's move paid huge dividends when Jesus appeared to scored in injury time.

However, VAR ruled otherwise. The Brazilian's goal was disallowed due to the ball glancing off Aymeric Laporte's arm:

 

As if we didn't already, that's why the referee wears that headset. Kinda like helping the blind to see.

Can't say City was robbed. After all, facts are facts.

Let's see if those two points left on the table have any bearing next spring.