VAR the difference in draw between LAFC and DC United

Photo courtesy of LAFC.
Diego Rossi, left, scored LAFC’s goal against DC United on Saturday night.

By Ivan Yeo

Video Review was certainly in demand at Banc of California Stadium on Saturday night.

LAFC and DC United both had potential penalties overturned due to video replay. LAFC had a penalty called back when Video Review came to the conclusion that the ball hit off a defender’s elbow and not the hand area. Before that , Video Review had determined that Laurent Ciman had been forced down and thus touched the ball while going for penalty Box.

On, and add to all that, a straight red card and both teams trading goals, perhaps it was only fitting that this match did end in a draw. Darren Mattcoks’s header late in the second quarter canceled out Diego Rossi’s first half goal. Perhaps it was fitting that this match ended in a 1-1 Draw.

“It has to be clear what gets looked at again and what doesn’t. Our game is a game of close calls,” LAFC head coach Bob Bradley said. “When VAR started, what they said is you only overturn something if it’s a clear error and yet what happens is now there are calls, the referee makes it and it’s not really a clear error. It’s a close call.”

The first initiation of Video review came in the 67th minute. Laurent Ciman was vying for a ball inside LAFC’s penalty area, Ciman ended up going to the ground and while in the process, his hands ended up touching the ball. DC United pleaded for the penalty, which they appeared to get, but referee Ismael Elfath got the call to take another look, and after a few minutes, Elfath awarded the ball to LAFC. VAR apparently determined that Ciman’s handball was unintentional.

Today was a very choppy game, I’ve heard these weren’t penalties, and I’ve heard both were penalties,” DE United Head Coech Ben Olsen said. “You have a referee making a judgement call, now you have someone in the booth making a judgement call.”

Minutes later, VAR on a potential penalty call was at it again. It occurred in the 68th minute when LAFC’s Jordan Harvey, already inside the penalty area, attempted a cross into the six-yard box, the ball went off the elbow of Zoltan Steiber and over the endline. Elfath at first judged that to be off the hand area and awarded LAFC the penalty, Carlos Vela was ready to step up to the spot, but Elfath again whistled the play stopped for another round of VAR, and just like the last time, the call was overturned, only on this instance, LAFC got to keep the ball, as they were given the corker kick.

I don’t know what a hand-ball is anymore,: Olsen said. “Nobody in this room knows what a hand – ball is anymore; I barley know what offside is at this point. It’s tough, and I think today was one of those days where it hurt the game.”

The night however wasn’t all about video review. There were goals and plenty of action on the field between LAFC and DC United. LAFC struck first in the 39th minute, as Mark Anthony Kaye worked a one-two with Benny Feilhaber, with Kaye receiving the ball inside the DCU penalty area. Kaye however was surrounded and ended up having the ball knocked away, but the ball fell to Diego Rossi, and he launched a one-timer that beat David Ousted far post.

Fate however befuddled LAFC right before halftime. DC United’s Yamil Assad sent a ball forward, Paul Arriola chased it down, looking to beat Dejan Jakovic to the 50-50 ball. Jakovic slid in order to win the ball, but he was late to the challenge, which resulted in him taking out Arriola with a studs up tackle, and referee ended Jakovic’s night early with a straight red.

DC United had the man advantage, but it took until the 84th minute for DC United to finally get that equalizer. Joseph Mora took a ball from Assad and crossed from the left side into the penalty area, Arriola leaped high over Joao Moutinho to head a ball into the six and Mattocks headed a ball past keeper Tyler Miller and Ciman, both of whom were near the goal line, to level the match. DC United almost won the game in stoppage time, as Fredric Brilliant headed a Luciano Acosta corner kock towards goal but it hit off the far post.