Semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) failed during Newcastle and Manchester City’s Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday night, leading to a five-minute delay in ruling out an Antoine Semenyo goal. The lengthy deliberation, that required VAR officials to manually apply the lines which eventually found Erling Haaland to have influenced play from an offside position, became the major talking point of the game. SAOT technology uses in-stadium cameras to build a live picture of the position of players on the field, before generating a 3D image that can be used by VAR officials to assess offside calls. The incident is a blow to Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO), which has been focused on reducing the interruptions from VAR decisions this season. A similar failure led to a lengthy delay during the Premier League match between Newcastle and Bournemouth last month.

Source: Irish Examiner January 15, 2026 04:00 UTC