COLUMBUS, Ohio – The frenetic and dramatic match between Columbus Crew SC and the LA Galaxy on Wednesday had just about every twist and turn imaginable, but in Crew SC's 2-0 win the lasting memory of the match may be the heavy lifting done by the league’s newly implemented Video Review system.
In just 26 minutes of play, referee Sorin Stoica reviewed three calls with Video Assistant Referee Hilario Grajeda. And in all three instances, the calls went against the Galaxy, leading to two very different assessments from the teams.
First, Stoica called a foul against Ashley Cole just outside the Columbus box in the 16th minute, after Pedro Santos broke behind the Galaxy backline. Stoica showed Cole a red card before Grajeda called him to initiate the review. But even after reviewing the play, the red card stood.
Galaxy coach Sigi Schmid said he hadn’t “seen [the calls] in enough detail” to comment much, but didn’t believe the call was correct.
“I don’t think Cole’s is a red card, but that’s my opinion,” he said. “The referees obviously thought differently.”
Cole, who was already in the locker room while the play was being reviewed, had even stronger feelings, saying he’s “never been a big fan” of Video Review.
“I think sometimes football should just be played from the referee’s eye,” he said. “Goal-line technology, yes, but when it comes to tackles and there is panic, [no].”
Moments later, Columbus were awarded a penalty kick on another foul on Santos, after Stoica reviewed the play and moved a free kick from outside the box onto the penalty spot. Ultimately, goalkeeper Jon Kempin would save the Federico Higuain shot.
Despite the man disadvantage, the Galaxy thought they had the opening goal in the 26th minute, when Daniel Steres headed a corner kick past Columbus’ Zack Steffen. But upon Video Review, it was determined that Joao Pedro touched the ball before it went in the goal while in an offside position.
In that case, Schmid didn’t have an issue.
“I talked to Pedro on the [disallowed goal], and he said he touched it, so he’s probably offside on that one,” Schmid allowed.
Columbus coach Gregg Berhalter called the situation “just crazy," but said the calls were correct, and “that’s why you do this.”
And after Harrison Afful was sent off for a red card issued after a Video Review last week, Berhalter said he’s on the side of accuracy, regardless of who it helps.
“It’s strange that it happened all in one game,” he said. “We may not get one our way for the rest of the season, but it benefitted us today, there’s no question. It benefitted us that they were able to look at the play, reassess it and come up with the right decisions … Last week, we were on the short end of one and this week we benefitted from it. So I’d expect it to keep going either way for the rest of the year.”
Meanwhile, for Schmid, the calls just add to a difficult season in LA.
“For our team, right now, if we didn’t have bad luck, we’d have no luck,” he said. “That’s where we’re at right now. Every stoppage seems to always go against us.”
