This week’s big controversy appears to have a direct result on the outcome. The play that led to the controversy happened around the 72nd minute of the game, when Javier Morales put a well-placed corner kick onto the head of Robbie Findley who flicked the ball forward to a forward rushing Kyle Beckerman who appeared to be beyond the final defender when the ball was played and just managed to get his toe onto it to put the ball into the net. My initial reaction was that he was offside on the play, but there was no such indication. A goal was indicated on the scoreboard. Both the referee, Jason Anno, and the assistant seemed to indicate a goal and trotted toward midfield for the ensuing restart. However suddenly there seemed to be confusion as the team and crowd continued to celebrate. Some discussion took place with referee and players on the field. The referee took the ball down toward the San Jose goal and pulled an RSL player in for a chat (I believe it was Javier Morales, despite the fact that Beckerman was the goal scorer and the one with the captain’s armband I believe). Next thing you knew, Joe Cannon was placing the ball at the 6 yard spot for a goal kick.
Two points of controversy came out of this. The first point of controversy was the impression that the referee disregarded the assistant who kept his flag down on the play, and was somehow influenced (either by watching the scoreboard or by the appeals of the San Jose players) to change the ruling. Many have claimed to have witnessed both of these occurring, but I have not seen any visual evidence of this, or heard any confirmation of this from anyone on the field. Obviously if the referee is swayed by the replay or players on the field, that would seem to be a major integrity issue. The second point of controversy came after the fact, when evidence came to light that there was a defender out wide that appeared to keep Beckerman onside after all. This wasn’t initially obvious because the player was out near the sideline defending the corner and Beckerman was directly in front of the goal. This controversy would have been a point of discussion in any event, but likely would have quickly blown over. However, combined with the referee’s change of heart on the call, this has received much more attention.
What are your thoughts on this situation? It will be interesting to see what conclusion the MLS officials come to when they review this weeks on the field officiating.
