08/07/21 FC Cincinnati vs Orlando City TQL Stadium (7:30PM ET) REF: Fotis Bazakos AR1: Peter Balciunas AR2: Peter Manikowski 4TH: Matt Franz VAR: Dave Gantar AVAR: Jeffrey Swartzel Columbus Crew vs Atlanta United Lower.com Field (7:30PM ET) REF: Allen Chapman AR1: Brian Dunn AR2: Jeff Hosking 4TH: Sergii Demianchuk VAR: Ramy Touchan AVAR: Diego Blas Minnesota United vs Houston Dynamo Allianz Field (8PM ET) REF: Silviu Petrescu AR1: Eric Boria AR2: Justin Howard 4TH: Ismir Pekmic VAR: Alex Chilowicz AVAR: Craig Lowry Toronto FC vs New York City FC BMO Field (8PM ET) REF: Robert Sibiga AR1: Micheal Barwegen AR2: Stefan Tanaka-Freundt 4TH: Pierre-Luc Lauziere VAR: Jorge Gonzalez AVAR: Robert Schaap FC Dallas vs Austin FC Toyota Stadium (8:30PM ET) REF: Alan Kelly AR1: Ian McKay AR2: Ryan Graves 4TH: Chris Ruska VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero AVAR: Fabio Tovar Colorado Rapids vs Sporting Kansas City Dick’s Sporting Goods Park (9PM ET) REF: Ted Unkel AR1: Corey Rockwell AR2: Jeremy Kieso 4TH: Alyssa Nichols VAR: Chico Grajeda AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert Portland Timbers vs Real Salt Lake Providence Park (10:30PM ET) REF: Rosendo Mendoza AR1: Cameron Blanchard AR2: TJ Zablocki 4TH: Elijio Arreguin VAR: Daniel Radford AVAR: Apolinar Mariscal
08/08/21 Chicago Fire FC vs New York Red Bulls Soldier Field (6PM ET) REF: Guido Gonzales Jr AR1: Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho AR2: Claudiu Badea 4TH: Ismir Pekmic VAR: Alex Chilowicz AVAR: Joshua Patlak Inter Miami vs Nashville DRV PNK Stadium (6PM ET) REF: Nima Saghafi AR1: Adam Garner AR2: Brian Poeschel 4TH: Matthew Corrigan VAR: Sorin Stoica AVAR: Gjovalin Bori New England Revolution vs Philadelphia Union Gillette Stadium (6PM ET) REF: Armando Villarreal AR1: Kevin Klinger AR2: Matthew Nelson 4TH: Joshua Encarnacion VAR: Joe Dickerson AVAR: Jonathan Johnson San Jose Earthquakes vs Los Angeles FC PayPal Park (7PM ET) REF: Rubiel Vazquez AR1: Logan Brown AR2: Jeffrey Greeson 4TH: Elijio Arreguin VAR: Kevin Stott AVAR: Mike Kampmeinert D.C. United vs CF Montréal Audi Field (8PM ET) REF: Marcos DeOliveira AR1: Jose Da Silva AR2: Gianni Facchini 4TH: JC Griggs VAR: Jon Freemon AVAR: Jozef Batko LA Galaxy vs Vancouver Whitecaps Dignity Health Sports Park (8PM ET) REF: Baldomero Toledo AR1: Chris Elliott AR2: Eduardo Mariscal 4TH: Greg Dopka VAR: Daniel Radford AVAR: Felisha Mariscal
Columbus fans on Twitter were so happy about the two penalty calls that they declared it rigged after an incredibly obvious offside review overturned a goal. But other than that....
Yeah, I thought the two Atlanta penalties were interesting because they looked and felt eerily similar, but I actually believe the first one was wrongly awarded while the second one was a correct call. On the first one, the ball essentially gets lost to the attacker's right--he's not going to maintain possession--and he sticks his right leg out to ensure contact as he goes to the ground while he's already off-balance. There's just really nothing there and no reason for that contact to occur other than the attacker's actions. The defender doesn't come close enough to commit a true foul; he's actually shown care in his actions, stopping before he would have initiated contact. On the second one, the similarity is that the attacker drags or sticks out his leg to ensure the contact. But in this case, the defender is clumsily charging at the attacker and takes away space that the attacker can plausibly use. You can say the attacker went looking for the penalty, but you also can say the defender has taken a risk and been careless in his actions. If you isolate everything on the two defenders in the two penalties, I think it's actually a perfect example of the difference between a defender showing care (#1) and a defender being careless (#2). But everyone will instead focus on the attacker and say he simulated both times, which is unfortunate.
Well, this happened: https://www.today.com/parents/mom-tackles-her-2-year-old-after-he-sprints-field-t227782 I've seen this happen at a U12 game (I had to blow play dead), but how does this happen in MLS?
I know some DC fans (and Hernan Losada) are upset that this tackle on Kevin Paredes was only given a yellow. It's ugly (Miller's boot definitely looks to catch Paredes in the knee) but I'm not sure this rises to a red card offense to me. https://www.reddit.com/r/DCUnited/comments/p2d3ie/kamal_miller_challenge_on_paredes/
He kicks him above the knee with force, at speed, and has no chance for the ball. In what world would we not want this to be a red card? By going yellow, you are saying that everyone gets to do that once and stay on the field.
I'd have been totally fine with red there. I like red better. Instead of committing a "normal" tactical foul, he attacked his opponent's knee quite deliberately. That's "excessive force," by defiition, in my eyes. It's not going to be a VAR red card because it's not clearly wrong, though. But, this is another classic example of a tackle that doesn't have buzzword components (e.g., "studs," "mode of contact," "two-footed," etc.) so referees tend to ignore the more umbrella category of "excessive force."
Sure, I've had two of them, but between the stadium barricades that should be too difficult for a child that size to scale and security and parents that should be paying better attention, this really shouldn't happen.
I assume its from field side seating, which may or may not have barriers between the seats and the field
Yeah, from the pics I pulled up there are no boards on the near side. Front row is pitch level with just standard stadium bars to slide under.
You and @MassachusettsRef do make a good point. I didn't give enough credit to where Miller's foot hit Paredes and how late the challenge was on him when watching the play, both in stadium and on replay. I do see why VAR wouldn't say that's a clear and obvious error and not overturn it, but I think I would have been okay with red there the more I think about it.
For me, a clearly cynical/tactical foul would probably lend itself more toward red if I had an inkling that it was more than just a "normal foul". Here's an example - attacker goes past defender. Defender grabs a big handful of shirt at the bottom of the shirt. Pretty eash yellow foul for SPA. Now if the defender makes a deliberate whack/kick, my idea of what could cross into the land of a send-off is heightened. A good example of this was the red card in the Wales-Denmark Round of 16 Euro game right near the end. The Wales guy was sent off for a clearly cynical kick that was part stopping an attack / part (in my mind) a "we're getting smoked, and I'm going to get a lick in before we're done here". If that kind of play is done in a more genuine effort to challenge for the ball, maybe it's yellow. But that type of foul in that type of situation can work closer to a red.
I quick note, this is the second straight week in which the biggest incident is not covered (double red in Atlanta) which sadly means this weekly series is quickly losing it's credibility from fans (which can be seen on the MLS reddit).