New York City FC’s head coach and players seemed perplexed by a non-call late in the game that could have provided some momentum in their 3-2 loss to Inter Miami.
Trailing by a goal in the 76th minute, Maxi Moralez sent a lead pass down the field, trying to spur a scoring chance for Agustín Ojeda, when Inter Miami goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair aggressively played the ball, potentially doing so outside of the box.
If the ref had made the call, it would have resulted in an automatic red card and Inter Miami having to play the rest of the game with 10 players.
Video review did not provide “clear evidence that Miami No. 97 touched the ball when it was outside the penalty area,” match day officials said in a statement to a pool reporter following the game.
NYCFC captain Thiago Martins did not see things that way and was critical of the non-call, and its look for MLS.
“It looks bad for the league. Simple like that,” he said. “So many people watch this game, it’s a big game, and when this happens, it’s like ‘what can we do?’ ”
Defender Kevin O’Toole was a bit more careful in his comments postgame, but seemed to disagree with the ruling.
“We’ve seen pictures in the locker room after and it looks pretty clear,” O’Toole said.
“I think it should have been reviewed a second time. That’s all I’ll say about that,” he added.
NYCFC had a similar situation in their third game of the season when Orlando City goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau was given a red card for playing the ball outside of the box.
Both Crépeau and St. Clair are Canadian and head coach Pascal Jansen joked that maybe the box was bigger in Canada.
“I looked up at the big screen for a second. It’s close, but I don’t know what the TV said, and apparently, the VAR said it was inside,” Jansen said. “You have to deal with that. It is what it is.”