The New England Revolution and the New York Red Bulls shared the points on Saturday night as the refereeing once again supplied the primary talking points. The bulk of the match was an open affair between two playoff caliber teams. The final 15 minutes, however, were marred with controversy as referee Fotis Bazakos made several calls that were puzzling to both teams.
Fabian Espindola gave the home team the lead in the 15th minute after he intercepted Scott Caldwell’s pass to AJ Soares. The trouble began when Andrew Farrell cleared the ball to the middle of the field. Caldwell, feeling the pressure of Espindola and Johnny Steele, played a poor pass to Soares. Espindola jumped on the ball before sending a low shot past Matt Reis for his ninth goal of the year.
Espindola nearly had a second goal in the 24th minute when Thierry Henry sent in a perfectly weighted cross. Steele created another opportunity for the home side in the 36th minute when he stripped Farrell of the ball. Despite dominating play in the first half, the Red Bulls only held a 1-0 margin heading into the locker room.
Both goalkeepers were on display after the break as Reis and Luis Robles exchanged significant saves. After Henry cut through the defense in the 57th minute, Reis made a full-stretch stop to deny the Frenchman. Not to be outdone, Robles made a point-blank save on Saer Sene’s blast from inside the penalty box.
In the final fifteen minutes of the game, referee Fotis Bazakos stole all the attention by making a series of controversial calls. In the 83rd minute, Bazakos pointed to the penalty spot after Jamison Olave was judged to have committed a handling offense despite the ball hitting his shoulder. Nguyen capitalized on the debatable infraction by firing home the penalty kick.
Bazakos reappeared in the 86th minute when he gave Andy Dorman, who had replaced the struggling Caldwell in the 56th minute, a straight red card. The veteran defensive midfielder’s late slide tackle on Eric Alexander reduced the Revs to ten men.
The Revolution continued to push forward and was rewarded for their persistence with a goal in the 91st minute. Pressure from Jerry Bengtson allowed Diego Fagundez to take the ball from David Carney and score his 12th goal of the season.
The Red Bulls’ frustration became evident in the 93rd minute when Henry shoved Farrell into Reis and caused the rookie defender to bleed. Bazakos, who had been active with the whistle earlier in the game, saw no foul and allowed play to continue. The Revs were able to keep the lead only because Andre Akpan failed to put his shot on goal.
With Farrell getting treatment off the field, the Revs were down to 9 men. Once again finding motivation from the imbalance, the Revs had a great scoring opportunity after Nguyen played the ball to Dimitry Imbongo. The second-year player was fouled twice, first by Markus Holgersson and then by Robles, but failed to earn the referee’s sympathy.
Bazakos did use his whistle moments later when he gave the Red Bulls a free kick in the 96th minute. Although Reis was able to punch away the ensuing free kick, Tim Cahill was there to finish the rebound. The Red Bulls had put all of their players inside of the box for the game’s final moment while the Revs were forced to defend with 9 because Bazakos refused to let a clean Farrell onto the field.
A Quick Look at the Controversial Calls
Olave is whistled for a handling offense-Olave moves his arm out which is likely what Bazakos was looking at when he makes the call. Regardless, the ball hits Olave’s shoulder which means that it shouldn’t have been a penalty kick. As a side note, I’d like to see someone else take penalties in the future since Nguyen is too predictable.
Verdict: Bad Call
Dorman sees red: Dorman is running at full speed when he goes in for the late slide tackle. This type of play is a little more controversial because I’ve seen it called both ways. However, given the emotions of the game and the nature of the tackle, I think a red card is the right call. The veteran, who has gotten ejected twice in 10 appearances, needs to be smart with his tackles.
Verdict: Right Call
Henry pushes Farrell: Farrell was clearly in a better position than Henry and the Frenchman shows his aggravation by shoving the rookie into Reis. The play is clearly a foul but I don’t think it warrants a card. Farrell is a bit unlucky to collide with Reis’ cleat which makes the foul look worse.
Verdict: Bad Call
Dimitry Imbongo is taken out by Holgersson: Imbongo attempted to run onto Nguyen’s free kick but was held back by Holgersson. The Congo striker, who would have likely gone to the ground last year, battled through the tackle which likely explains why Bazakos doesn’t use his whistle. However, it’s a clear foul for a team that had a player off for treatment. I can understand the no call but think the Revs would’ve appreciated the whistle.
Verdict: Could go Either Way
Robles tackles Imbongo: After beating Holgersson, Imbongo goes up against Robles. This is a tough one to call because the goalkeeper gets the ball but his trailing leg gets the player. Since Imbongo would have had a realistic chance at recovering the tackled ball, I would have pointed to the penalty spot.
Verdict: Bad Call
Bazakos plays beyond the initial 4 minutes of stoppage time: With the Fagundez goal and Farrell injury, there were serious delays in play during stoppage time. With this in mind, I completely agree with Bazakos deciding to play more than 4 minutes of stoppage time.
Verdict: Right Call
Farrell is denied reentry: Sending Farrell off to stop the bleeding is an obvious move that can’t be argued. However, all reports say that Farrell was cleaned and ready to participate by time the free kick was taken. Bazakos needs to allow the Revs to be at full staff for that final play.
Verdict: Bad Call
(Image Courtesy of Kari Heistad)
