07/23/22 New York City FC vs Inter Miami Yankee Stadium (7PM ET) REF: Allen Chapman AR1: Adam Garner AR2: Gianni Facchini 4TH: Luis Arroyo VAR: Ismail Elfath AVAR: TJ Zablocki FC Cincinnati vs Nashville TQL Stadium (7:30PM ET) REF: Timothy Ford AR1: Nick Uranga AR2: Brooke Mayo 4TH: Greg Dopka VAR: Victor Rivas AVAR: Tom Supple Columbus Crew vs New England Revolution Lower.com Field (7:30PM ET) REF: Silviu Petrescu AR1: Brian Dunn AR2: Jeffrey Greeson 4TH: Tori Penso VAR: Kevin Stott AVAR: Matthew Nelson Orlando City vs Philadelphia Union Exploria Stadium (7:30PM ET) REF: Alex Chilowicz AR1: Corey Parker AR2: Jason White 4TH: Sergii Demianchuk VAR: Jair Marrufo AVAR: Jeff Muschik Toronto FC vs Charlotte BMO Field (7:30PM ET) REF: Filip Dujic AR1: Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho AR2: Lyes Arfa 4TH: Ramy Touchan VAR: Armando Villarreal AVAR: Rene Parra D.C. United vs CF Montréal Audi Field (8PM ET) REF: Rubiel Vazquez AR1: Adam Wienckowski AR2: Kevin Lock 4TH: Joshua Encarnacion VAR: Sorin Stoica AVAR: Cameron Blanchard Houston Dynamo vs Minnesota United PNC Stadium (8:30PM ET) REF: Nima Saghafi AR1: Brian Poeschel AR2: Chris Wattam 4TH: Alyssa Nichols VAR: Daniel Radford AVAR: Jose Da Silva Sporting Kansas City vs Los Angeles FC Children’s Mercy Park (8:30PM ET) REF: Lukasz Szpala AR1: Jeremy Kieso AR2: Andrew Bigelow 4TH: Matthew Conger VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero AVAR: Eric Weisbrod Real Salt Lake vs FC Dallas Rio Tinto Stadium (10PM ET) REF: Ismir Pekmic AR1: Frank Anderson AR2: Tyler Wyrostek 4TH: Matthew Corrigan VAR: Kevin Terry Jr AVAR: Joshua Patlak Seattle Sounders vs Colorado Rapids Lumen Field (10PM ET) REF: Ted Unkel AR1: Corey Rockwell AR2: Ryan Graves 4TH: Chris Ruska VAR: Rosendo Mendoza AVAR: Claudiu Badea Vancouver Whitecaps vs Chicago Fire BC Place (10PM ET) REF: Joe Dickerson AR1: Chantal Boudreau AR2: Jeffrey Swartzel 4TH: Alain Ruch VAR: Alejandro Mariscal AVAR: Jeremy Hanson Portland Timbers vs San Jose Earthquakes Providence Park (10:30PM ET) REF: Jon Freemon AR1: Logan Brown AR2: Cory Richardson 4TH: Brad Jensen VAR: Geoff Gamble AVAR: Fabio Tovar 07/24/22 Austin FC vs New York Red Bulls Q2 Stadium (8PM ET) REF: Guido Gonzales Jr AR1: Kevin Klinger AR2: Diego Blas 4TH: Elton Garcia VAR: Victor Rivas AVAR: Tom Supple LA Galaxy vs Atlanta United Dignity Health Sports Park (9:30PM ET) on FS1 REF: Marcos DeOliveira AR1: Ian Anderson AR2: Ian McKay 4TH: Calin Radosav VAR: Kevin Stott AVAR: Joshua Patlak
You won't see it in every game, and you may not see it at all, but additional, brief water breaks in one or both halves are on the table this weekend due to a forecast potential of excessive heat in a few markets. The ambient temperature in Austin is predicted to still be close to 100°F at the scheduled kickoff time, for example.
Conger has been moved from his fourth official assignment and now has the whistle on the Salt Lake vs. Dallas match.
Elton Garcia replaces Conger at 4th at SKC. In addition, Rosendo Mendoza has been moved up to referee for SEAvCOL. Replacing him at VAR is Chico Grajeda.
So that game will have Matthew Conger as the referee and Matthew Corrigan as the fourth. Any guesses on how often the broadcasters mess that up?
I actually thought putting the two Ians together in Los Angeles tomorrow night was a bit cruel to De Oliveira.
I'm still a fan of DeOliveira's officiating, and am psyched he got this assignment. This is a good game, and if he does well here, he may very play his way into a playoff whistle (in which case I'm sure some heads will explode).
Petrescu just had an interesting one at 71’. Revolution in possession inside the center circle. Crew player cleanly tackles the ball into Petrescu and ball rebounds to another Crew player. That player then makes a pass to start an attacking opportunity. Petrescu whistles for dropped ball. And drops it to New England. Needless to say, Columbus didn’t agree. Nor do I. Revolution immediately gave the ball back, so there was consensus on the field.
Dujic had a very interesting few minutes starting at 65’. Penalty appeal for Charlotte, not given. Immediately counterattack leads to DOGSO red at other end against Charlotte. That prompts afters that results in a few yellows. Meanwhile the tackled player from the penalty is down injured and needs treatment (and is substituted). VAR looks and check completes it. Red card stands. I think it’s all correct but it was a lot. Dujic did decently well in the aftermath of it but it was a lot.
Also three yellow cards to Charlotte’s bench in this match. It’s taken awhile for a case like this, but feel like this is a prime example of the bad side of cards for technical staff. If there’s that much misbehavior and unprofessionalism, someone has to go. But if they are only committing “yellow card offences”…
Interesting restart mess for the Sounders goal. Foul (questionable call, but not my point) called on Colorado 5 or so yards into the attacking half. Ball ends up in the defensive half, helped along by Rubio to delay a restart. Seattle grabs it, places it, and takes it from there, catching the Rapids by surprise leading to a goal. Personally, I'm a lot less upset about the restart than my fellow Rapids fans. The team fell asleep and I have a hard time complaining about a quick restart taken that far our of position when the reason the ball was that far out of position is because the Rapids helped it there to avoid a quick start. Its not a good look for the ref's control though. https://www.mlssoccer.com/video/goal-jordan-morris-seattle-sounders-43rd-minute
Based on description, I was ready to side with you and not be that "upset." But that restart is about 20 yards from where the foul occurred (it's 17 yards by the cut of the grass and then there's an angle to take into account). And the Rapids player just moves it slightly from a point where it shouldn't be taken to a point, even further from the foul, where it also shouldn't be taken. I mean the ball is already 15 yards away from the spot of the foul before a Rapids player touches it after the whistle. Also, Mendoza is clearly walking toward the spot of the foul and then consciously decides to allow the restart from a different position when he sees Seattle could restart quickly. But they shouldn't be allowed to restart quickly from there. As a Rapids partisan, I'd be more upset if I were you! I don't think PRO will be defending that decision tomorrow morning and there likely will be an internal reminder about the location of restarts and how close is "close enough." 20 yards should never get you there.
Maybe I'm just more annoyed that we fell asleep on a free kick from a non-dangerous position, regardless if it was on the correct side of the midfield stripe. And its the 4th or 5th goal we've given up this season after the 40th minute of the first half.
My non ref view is that you probably shouldn't be letting the retake be that far away from the spot of the foul regardless of location. But once he clearly lets it go I assume its not something that can be reviewed by VAR? Kellyn Rowe picked up a 2nd yellow card early in 2nd half. Ball goes out for a throw and Rowe was sliding to try to prevent it. As he stands up he flicks the ball over the sign board. No Colorado players near the play. There was a ball on one of the stanchions near the play. I get he technically tosses the ball away. But in practice there was no delay as the Rapids were in no rush to play it quickly and there was a ball near bye they could have grabbed just as quickly as if the ball wasn't tossed over the sign board.
I can understand the annoyance. But part of that "falling asleep" is due to the referee purposefully walking toward the actual spot of the restart--you can see some defenders have their head/eyes turned in that direction. Ultimately, defenders are responsible for their own actions and have to be alert. But just as we don't tell referees to engage players verbally during a free kick unless they are going to hold the restart, we also talk about non-verbal signals like this. Mendoza's body language was demonstrating where the restart would be... until Seattle chose a different spot and Mendoza changed his mind. When you couple that with the 20 yard discrepancy, it's "not a good look" as you initially said.
Correct. Restarts themselves aren't reviewable. This came up a few years back when a free kick was moving slightly and it led to a goal (Gantar referee in New England?). The question was whether or not the restart was part of the APP. It's not. Or, if it is, whether or not the restart was taken correctly isn't a foul/offence. Point of emphasis. Everyone knows this has been punished with a caution all season. Haven't seen it yet, but feels like one of those where hands of referee are tied. If he doesn't give it, it undermines the few dozen overly strict DR cautions that have been given this season.
Just saw it. Yup, point of emphasis. Agree it probably doesn't delay the actual restart, but that's not how it's been called this season and everyone knows it. That's a stone cold yellow card all year. Two of the big questions I had early on were if it would still be given later in the season and would it be given as a 2CT. Looks like the answers are "yes." Next question will be if it will be given in the playoffs.
On the free kick situation in Seattle, I think it totally should have been retaken. If the free kick is a backwards pass just to get the ball back in play and pass it between the center backs for a bit, that’s one thing. If that were the case, I could be ok with allowing it for the sake of keeping the game flowing and not being pedantic over things that don’t matter. But this free kick did matter because it led straight to an attack for Seattle. If there’s a quick free kick that can lead to a nice attack, you damn well better make sure you dot your i’s and cross your t’s for it. That applies to both the player and the referee here. And on the Rowe yellow, I can only laugh. Rowe’s been in the league too long to make a mistake like that. That’s a play I would expect from a summer signing who’s new to the league and not aware of this emphasis, not from a veteran like Rowe.
I would say Conger landed the plane in Salt Lake. It was very interesting watching someone who is simultaneously a league rookie and a very experienced FIFA referee who clearly knows what he's doing. I'd say it was serviceable, but choppy. He let a lot of physical play go in the first half and probably missed a couple incidents he should have dealt with. But overall he had a clear line and command of the match... until maybe he didn't. Problem is it stayed a tense affair and he didn't have the personal relationships to manage the players in a way a league veteran might. Add in a couple small things--like giving a FRD card on a free kick that should have default been ceremonial (something that was technically correct, but I think also something that no other MLS referee would have done in the exact situation) and not giving 1 or 2 DR cards--and there were parts where you could tell he was "new." It all contributed to a final 10 minutes of match play that had 7 yellow cards (and 9 overall). So it was a choppy landing, but a landing. Don't get me wrong. Nothing that really should reflect negatively on Conger overall or relative to his international work. But interesting seeing a new guy, with experience, thrown into a tough match in a league he doesn't know.
But at what point can he make that call. He looks at them taking the kick and thinks (presumably) "far back but whatever, its ok". Then the pass comes in but Colorado gets in front of the player, then the player puts a through ball in and goal. Can the ref decide at that point, or even on the final pass, to go back to the free kick or has that opportunity passed? In the end he's lucky that the Rapids were so poor in the second half the free kick didn't matter.