[BallStateMiddie]

There's a pretty good debate going on in the Metros camp about Mathis' ejection. Just curious to see what you refs out there have to say. I think I probably would have given Allegria the first card, then yellowed Mathis for retaliation. It didn't seem like he really intended to injur him, he was just lashing out. If you didn't catch the play, go to this thread:

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showt...threadid=13683

[Jacen McCullough]

I was at the game, and I couldn't figure out why he got carded. There was contact, and Alegria went down and grabbed Mathis' leg. Mathis jerked his leg to get away from Alegria and Chino starts rolling around the pitch like Mathis stabbed him in the eye. Mathis gets carded, and less than 20 seconds later Chino is perfectly healthy. Pitiful. That call completely changed the game.

JMac

[BallStateMiddie]

So you're saying sending him off was the right thing to do? It sounds like you thought it was the wrong call, but did you vote to the contrary?

[Jacen McCullough]

I didn't vote at all, I'm not big into polls. Way I figure it, if you have an opinion, put it out there for discussion. I don't think Mathis should have been sent off. Alegria fouled Mathis and then acted it up. As bad as Diallos flopping was, Alegria's was worse. Mathis never should have been sent off.


JMac

[GlennAA11]

I was there too and couldn't figure out what the red was for. I was sitting at field level and it happened pretty quickly. I thought Chino was getting the card for his tackle, but he seemed to pretty much get only ball to me.

If Mathis retaliated then I think under the letter of our instructions a send off is required. DC has been on the receiving end of retaliation red cards in the past for plays that were no more violent. Whether he's intending to hurt the guy or not is irrelevant. If he's lashing out in retaliation a red is probably the correct decision.

[jelliot]

I was at the game as well, and Mathis went out of his way to step on Chino. There is no question in my mind that Mathis should have been sent off. The degee of steping on does not matter, there is no place for this type of behavior in any soccer game.

[Rsherwin]

Mathis hardly put his foot on him if you notice, it is not like he dug it in, he started to put it down, felt chino and then pulled it up before he put it into his back, terrible call.

[still4dcu]

I was at the game, too. Mathis has lost his head. He was elbowing Convey away from the ball (and out of view of the ref, though I'm sure the 4th official saw) and generally taking cheap shots the whole time he was in. Stepping on Alegria was the final straw. It was a correct card, and I'm not being a homer. In fact I'm pissed as a USMNT fan that our golden boy has disintegrated over the past 6 months. Despite his incredible skill, Mathis was just a 2 bit punk out there yesterday - depressing.

Also, what was Howard thinking with his challenge of Lassiter. He was going to lose 2-1 anyway, so what's 3-1. Now he's out for the next game (great for DC, but hopefully Howard will learn for later)

[Alberto]

Okay, here's my take.

Mathis got fouled by Alegria. It's clumsy challenge. Perhaps worthy of a caution, though I would not administer one in the circumstance. The tackle was not applied with much force. Alegria doesn't even knock Clint to the ground.

Foul and free kick Metros.

Send off for Clint. He stomped Alegria. You have to control violence in football.

Caution Alegria for simulation. He rolled like he went to Mamadou's school of acting and writhing in pain.

[ignatz]

I recorded the game, and have gone over that play frame by frame. What I saw was this:

1.Both Alegria and Mathis were converging on the ball, at about 30 degree angles, i.e., as if the ball was at the center of an X and Alegria was coming in from the right top (visualizing it from the back of the play) and Mathis from the left.

2. It was very close, but Alegria got to the ball first with his right foot. The ball continued down the line of the the X from Alegria, not from Mathis.

3. Mathis stepped over Alegria with his right leg and the momentum of both of them brought Alegria into contact with Mathis' left leg. (Some people were saying on other boards that Alegria got Mathis from behind, but this definitely is not the case -- he didn't go through Mathis' legs; Mathis straddled a prone Alegria).

4. Mathis had his weight on his right leg, the one he'd stepped over Alegria with, and his left foot came up. He put his left foot down on Alegria's back (Alegria had rolled in the process).

5. I saw no foul from Alegria (See 3 above).

6. It's hard to tell if there was a foul from Mathis, at least an intentional one. It looks two ways: (a) that he was trying to keep his balance, and lifted his foot as soon as he realized he'd stepped on someone and (b) that he had to know that Alegria was there (Alegria's legs were out in front of Mathis), and he gave him a stomp while attempting to make it look innocent.

Take your pick. I can't tell, and am very glad I didn't have to call that in an instant.