Referee: Alan Kelly AR1: Ian Anderson AR2: Eric Weisbrod 4O: Nima Saghafi Reserve AR: Kathryn Nesbitt VAR: Chris Penso AVAR: Tom Supple
It occurs to me that this might be Kelly's first time in Atlanta. Is that right? @ManiacalClown ? If so, it really is the hardest place in the league to officiate. The noise is unlike anything else in the US. I'm not sure what the largest crowd Kelly has refereed in front of before is. I'm sure he will be ready for it, but there is a massive ("exponential" even) difference between a sell out crowd at 30k and one at 75k.
I think he has done Seattle v Portland. The question is has he done it in Seattle. I know the closed roof will make a big difference, but that is the next hardest I would wager.
Scrolled through this year's assignments, and I don't see any Atlanta home games with Kelly in the middle so I think this will be his first.
Correct. It's his first game in Atlanta. Good catch by @jarbitro . Kelly refereed Bayern v. Plzen in the UCL in 2013. UEFA reports say the attendance was 68,000. The way club tickets get sold in Europe, however (where a season pass guarantees a UCL match is "sold"), I have no idea if the attendance was actually 68,000, however. Something tells me Bayern didn't fill to capacity for a 5-0 midweek drubbing of a Czech team in late October, but I'm also a skeptic at heart. But I digress. The point of the story is that my best guess is the 2013 Bayern match is--on paper--the match he's done in front of the biggest crowd.
Hmm. Thought that was a pk in real time, as well on replay. Maybe not given because the touch was way long?
I am suspicious that the goal may have been offside. It seems weird how reluctant they've been to show a decent replay
He was on... I’m not sure it wasn’t a foul on the ball forward, but a defender right near the far touch line kept him on
EXACTLY my thoughts .... the camera work this game has been god awful. So I went back and got my own screenshot. He was kept on my the defender on the far side. Would be nice if they could show this on the broadcast ....
First broadcast replay showed it clearly. They never went back and looked again, true. But it was shown.
Alan Kelly having the worst performance I’ve seen from him. He’s usually a favorite of mine, but tonight I can’t tell what’s going to get called and what’s not. Both goals are questionable...
Can you specifically mention what you thought would negate both goals? I thought the Parkhurst tackle was great, and it looked like a deliberate Portland play of the ball before it went to Martinez. I’m the first person who says getting the ball doesn’t wipe out any possible foul, but I sure thought that was a big time tackle. I’ll have to go back to the foul before the second goal, but I don’t remember anything that would have made me think it wasn’t at least a defensible call. I’m not saying Kelly delivered an “Oliver in Madrid-Juventus” performance, but I didn’t think he had an awful performance.
He did fine. Both goals were good. He let too much go at the end and man how I wish he tossed McCann to make a point, but he did fine. Savarese is insane with his comments.
Kelly is never sending him there but I really wish he did. Refereeing 101 in regards to the nature of the challenge. . It was SFP and VC all rolled into one with a side helping of SPA. It was 2.5 reds if he connected. Bonus points for being in front of the benches and when you’re up 2-0 with 60 seconds left. Just fascinating decision making on his part.
I think everyone figured it was horrendously stupid and not deliberately malicious, but yeah, make real contact and I think it's a video review if he doesn't send him off.
KeepIng the match 11 v 11. Mission accomplished. Man, what a message it would have been if he did send McCann off.
I went back to the replay. Did Kelly call playing in a dangerous manner for the free kick that led to the second goal? I didn’t see Kelly give an indirect free kick signal, so I wasn’t sure. If that was in fact the call, it was a great call. I know professional players can control their actions much better than youth, but that was textbook PIADM with the boot near the face,
Personally, I'd expect a DFK because the player couldn't make that kick at the ball without crashing through the back of the opponent, but I'm not actually sure what the restart was.
I only saw the first half. For me it’s a penalty in the incident around 15’ I must note however, I don’t think I’ve ever watched a soccer game with WORSE camera work. So zoomed in, so many cuts, so many strange angles. Has nothing to with Kelly’s performance, but I couldn’t see play develop, team formations, or much of anything more than 7 yards from the ball. EDIT to add it almost gave me motion sickness! Did anyone else notice the same? I like a wide view of the game. Just add it to the list of FOX broadcasting horror shows
Also, I noticed the Reserve AR came out for the walkout. Is this standard practice? Do all games have reserve ARs and I never noticed, or is it only because this is a final? I’ve never noticed before.