Giancarlo Gonzalez's takedown of Eddie Johnson in the 71st minute of Saturday's 1-1 draw between the Columbus Crew and D.C. United was a clear denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity (DOGSO) and should have been punished with a red card, said Paul Rejer of the Professional Referee Organization on Tuesday.
Referee Juan Guzman elected to award only a yellow card to Gonzalez on the controversial play, a decision that Rejer, PRO's training and development manager, made clear was incorrect as he analyzed the sequence in his “Play of the Week” post on PRO's website.
“I do not intend to look for reasons why referee Juan Guzman only issued a yellow card for this clear DOGSO offense -- he is responsible and all of the postmatch talk is about him,” wrote Rejer, stressing the importance of communication among the entire four-person team of match referees. “But ... all the members of his crew have a responsibility to inform him that this is DOGSO, especially when it is this clear.
“Guzman consulted with AR Mark Cahen but still failed to take the correct action. A DOGSO that meets all of the above criteria should be dealt with swiftly and positively to avoid any potential confrontation and all of the officiating crew have a collective responsibility to ensure the Laws of the Game are applied.”
