The video assistant referee (VAR) was used for the first time in Spanish football on Sunday to award midfielder Pablo Sarabia with Sevilla's opening goal against Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup.
?️ VAR confirms Sarabia is onside and Sevilla take the lead inside the opening 10 minutes!
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) August 12, 2018
Follow live updates as Sevilla take on Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup live on Sky Sports Football: https://t.co/3ml2NnLXvA pic.twitter.com/j2fBtUqjHS
Referee Carlos Cerro del Grande deferred to the video assistants to ensure Sarabia was not in an offside position when he latched on to Luis Muriel's pass to give Sevilla a surprise lead against La Liga and King's Cup holders Barcelona in the ninth minute in the Super Cup game in Tangier, Morocco.
Pablo Sarabia has scored the first goal awarded by VAR in Spanish football.
— Squawka News (@SquawkaNews) August 12, 2018
He's effort vs. Barcelona was initially ruled out for being offside. pic.twitter.com/p5fgDhPfTa
The use of VAR was hailed as a success at the 2018 World Cup and has been approved for use in La Liga this season, following Germany's Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A which introduced the technology last year.