Just started watching the game online, looks like Gantar has had his hands full. Gantar just gave Cruz, who was sitting on a yellow, a 2nd yellow for diving when there looked to be some contact.
I think that was a gutsy call, and I'm fine with it. There was traffic, and he went down with the face forward slide, that just looked like a dive. And the Gantar was well positioned.
Yep, after looking at it, it definitely looks like he embellished, and Cruz didn't argue one bit. A very gutsy correct call.
That is ludicrous. Maybe Cruz went down a little easily, but there was considerable contact, and given that Where Cruz was on the field (not in the box) a yellow was harsh. Especially considering how all night he was being a 'strict constructionist' in the fouls he called (minimal contact usually =ed foul). This was not an easy game to call, but Gantar made it much more difficult for himself by the way he called the game. The game was ruined as a sporting spectacle with all of the stoppages and Ticky-tacky foul calls. And he lost all credibility with the players who ended up spending more time talking to him than playing. Given the talent level of these two teams and their willingness to play an open game, refereeing like this is bad for the league. I am not suggesting that Ganter cannot be a good ref, but this was a poor performance and refs with 8 games under their belts should not be making philosophical judgment calls like the one against Cruz. The only reason Cruz didn't show more emotion is he knew it wouldn't help for such an inexperienced player to try to show up the red when his team was a goal down. Would that the ref would have also used greater discretion given his similar experience level.
biased fan in this instance. I thought Ganter called too much. Given the heat and the condition of the players, maybe a tough game to call no matter what. But I wonder, if he had let more of the little stuff go, maybe his calls on the harsher fouls would have had more effect. As the game went on Ganter looked outwardly frustrated too, as if he felt he was losing control of the match. Did the AR opposite the team benches miss a pretty obvious off side in the second half (though saved saved by Keller)? I guess positives would be that no truly violent tackles occurred or brawls broke out.
Gantar might have got this technically right. But if that's the standard for simulation, then we need 3-4 cards in every single MLS match during the regular season. Otherwise, you don't make this call for a second caution. And that's the problem with it. It's completely out of whack with expectations. We don't see cards for simulation outside the area unless it's totally blatant (and, I do think we need more--in that regard, I applaud Gantar). But doing it on something borderline like this when it's a second caution? It just reeks of being over-officious, in my opinion. Let's remember, whether he got backed or not for it, this is the guy who sent off a Toronto player for a second yellow for climbing the barriers with the fans. I don't know Gantar, but everything I've seen is that he's a by-the-book referee, at all costs. I suspect he wants to follow the Marco Rodriguez path through CONCACAF. Given Rodriguez's success, perhaps he's onto something. But it doesn't jive with how the majority of MLS referees call a game.