It wasn’t a good day to be a PRO Referee. In both nationally televised MLS games on Sunday, referees messed up on similar calls that directly contributed to the outcome of each game.
The first, Sporting KC’s Dom Dwyer was tripped up by San Jose’s Andres Imperiale in the box and while it seemed obvious that would result in a second yellow and a penalty, nothing was called by 2008 MLS Referee of the Year Jair Marrufo. Minutes later, San Jose won a penalty (that was the right call) and scored to take a 1-0 win.
Moments before Wondolowski's PK goal Dwyer goes down on the opposite end. PK or na? https://t.co/r8SSXYq5nv
— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) April 24, 2016
To let you know how bad of a call that was, Earthquakes manager Dominic Kinnear even thought that was a bad call. And that bad call helped them earn three points.
Dom Kinnear provided no comfort to Marrufo on the Dwyer no-call: "Where I was sitting, it looked like a penalty to me."
— Geoff Lepper (@quakesbeat) April 24, 2016
The second, Orlando City’s Cyle Larin was, as Orlando City’s Twitter account reported, getting dropkicked by New York Red Bulls center back Karl Ouimette. It could be debatable as whether or not this was done in the box but it very much was worth a straight red for denying a goal scoring opportunity. This time, 2013 MLS Referee of the Year Hilario Grajeda didn’t make the call. Right after that, the Red Bulls scored three goals in nine minutes to win 3-2.
63' Bendik launches a drop kick to Cyle Larin who is alone up top. He is taken down in the box, but no call. pic.twitter.com/YOfHIOUqeT
— Orlando City SC (@OrlandoCitySC) April 25, 2016
This has many people up in arms and nobody is happy. This was just a sampling of the reaction to the Larin no call.
Nothing's ever a penalty again ….
— Andrew Das (@AndrewDasNYT) April 25, 2016
https://twitter.com/BrianDunseth/status/724405220495613953
No blood No foul 😜 https://t.co/WYPQyYpZCk
— KEI KAMARA (@keikamara) April 25, 2016
What is a penalty anyhow? pic.twitter.com/FkaUe0yVEI
— Howler Magazine (@whatahowler) April 25, 2016
https://twitter.com/aaronstol/status/724406013043068928
This defines red card #DOGSO https://t.co/bUhZJH6Klx
— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) April 25, 2016
Why, if you're not being paid to do so, would you have spent 180 minutes of your afternoon watching this stuff? https://t.co/h5iPjyKdfq
— Andy (@AndyEdMLS) April 25, 2016
Ehhh. Dwyer missed pk call. Larin missed pk call. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
— AJ DeLaGarza (@AJD_20) April 25, 2016
https://twitter.com/kevinmccauley/status/724406238033907712
I don't know what to say at this point. https://t.co/PM76sEBdEq
— Nate Bukaty (@nate_bukaty) April 25, 2016
You can’t spell "PROtracted bouts of extreme laughter” without…
— Howler Magazine (@whatahowler) April 25, 2016
well I thought for sure Dwyer's PK would be the Pro play of the week, now I'm not so sure…
— Mike (@downthebyline) April 25, 2016
#cauldronafterdark pic.twitter.com/zDIO1HpZjC
— The Cauldron (@KCCauldron) April 25, 2016
The first MLS weekend that isn’t dominated by talk about how bad refs are is going to be my favorite weekend
— Ryan Rosenblatt (@RyanRosenblatt) April 25, 2016
https://twitter.com/bwarshaw14/status/724410560792674304
https://twitter.com/amobisays/status/724411833977696256
Went to officials room to get a response from Hilario Grajeda on the no-red decision, but he declined to comment. #MLS
— Julie Stewart-Binks (@JSB_TV) April 25, 2016
I'm done 🙌🏽 https://t.co/uOyD2yktLw
— Dom Dwyer (@Ddwyer14) April 25, 2016
Instead of us talking about some great games that happened this weekend, we are once again talking about the ineptitude of the referees in MLS. There is no doubt these referees have a tough job but this happens multiple times a week and this isn’t even about arguing judgment calls. This is about missing clear, obvious calls that can be made by someone watching the game live from the midfield camera on a standard definition TV. This is a problem.
