Good Monday morning Caps fans, hope you all had a relaxing weekend and are mentally preparing for the week ahead.
This will be a shorter than usual post because I’m doing it on my phone but we will be back for maximum pontificating on the Canadian Championship come Friday.
The Caps had a disappointing 1-1 draw with Sporting KC, with a late Ryan Gauld penalty salvaging a point.
Gauld was denied a second goal after Tristan Blackmon was adjudged to be in an offsides position, despite not interfering with the keeper and appearing to attempt to get out of the way of the ball. Blackmon really was only in an offsides position at all because he got shoved by a SKC defender. It seemed to be a very questionable call, with refereeing only continuing to frustrate throughout the match (VAR had to intervene to give the Caps the stonewall penalty they converted).
I’m never a big fan of griping about the officials. The Caps had chances they didn’t take, Sergio Cordova continues to look like a complete whiff of a signing and a 1-1 draw seems a pretty fair representation of the match.
But it doesn’t feel good to be on the receiving end of the wrong side of a couple of big refereeing decisions, in matches that are crucial with a very slim margin between being in the playoffs (even getting a fairly high seed) and being out of the postseason all together.
I’m of the opinion that these things equalize out over the course of the season. For the Caps’ sake, let’s hope so.
Shameless Self Promotion
For a more thorough analysis of what happened on the pitch, check out our post-match and report card recaps of the SKC hijinks, including plenty of Cordova discourse.
Best of the Rest
Mathias Laborda was fined by MLS for embellishing the contact that got Nelson Quinones sent off against Houston. It was a deserved red card but this is fair
LAFC fell to Leon in the CONCACAF Champions League final Sunday night
Another MLS player has been suspended for using inappropriate language on the pitch, this time NYCFC’s Tayvon Gray
There are concerns that enough has changed at Canada Soccer, despite new leadership
Real Valladolid will be relegated, despite the best efforts of Cyle Larin, who nearly single handedly kept them up. You’d imagine he’d have suitors in top leagues
Yes, refereeing does balance out. I’m sure the Houston coach wasn’t happy with the referee in that game against the Caps. Please watch the hi lights of the disallowed goal. Blackmon was blocking the defender and was behind the 2nd last defender (the goalie). If Blackmon wasn’t blocking the defender there’s a good possibility he would have cleared the shot. I know it’s difficult for non referee’s to understand but those are the laws of the game. Interesting that so many who love the game, are involved in the game, know nothing about the laws of the game. Yet are more than willing to voice strong opinions on how the game should be officiated….