New York headed into Canada looking to stay hot, riding a four game win streak against a Montreal side that was on a streak of their own. The match will more be remembered for the officiating than the play on the field however.
First time match official Ismail Elfath had performance everyone will remember for all the wrong reasons. He started off well showing New York’s Victor Palsson a deserved yellow card for a hasty challenge in the fourth minute. The early booking seemed to be Elfath’s mark to calm the game down before it would get out of control. Then in the 20th minute, Elfath made a handball call on New York’s Markus Holgersson in the New York penalty area, resulting in a Montreal PK. Holgersson had jumped to challenge a ball in the box but the ball floated just over his head and was deflected back towards Holgersson; who was still in the process of landing. The ball went off the back of Holgersson’s right arm, which was starting to trail down to his body in a natural position. Holgersson was also not looking at the ball, unaware of its position. Either way, Bernardo Corrardi stepped up to put his third penalty beyond the reaching Meara.
15 minutes later, a Dane Richards low cross inside the Montreal box would deflect off Impact defender Tyson Wahl. The assistant referee called the handball and it seemed Elfath was willing to give NY the makeup call. Kenny Cooper sunk the penalty for his 10th goal of the season.
Two more controversial calls, or no calls in these cases, came late in the second half. Roy Miller, who served the ball into the box in the 67th minute that landed to Dane Richards for NY’s game winning goal, was offside when he received the ball from Joel Lindpere. It was not inches either as Miller was a good two steps offside when receiving the ball. A few minutes later, Jeb Brovsky was shown a yellow for a vicious studs up challenge on the Red Bulls’ Connor Lade. Brovsky went in hard, studs up and over the ball right into Lade’s leg. Joel Lindpere immediately turned Brovsky around and pushed him towards the fourth official believing Brovsky would be shown a straight red. However, after conferring with the assistant referee on the sideline, Elfath decided on only a yellow. New York was hoping Brovsky would be sent off after Palsson picked up a soft second yellow, resulting in his ejection and the Red Bulls playing down a man.
The Red Bulls were able to hang on for a vital three points, their fifth straight victory, through tired legs and some key plays from the defensive back four and rookie keeper Ryan Meara. Two pairs of tired legs belonged to Joel Lindpere and Dax McCarty who muct have covered almost every inch of that turf in Montreal. Even though Lindpere gave the universal substitution sign, he and Dax still kept tackling. One last revelation from the game came in the form of Connor Lade at left wing. Though I had predicted him starting there, I never imagined he would have a Luke Rodgers type impact on the wing. Lade marshaled up and down the left flank, battling physically with guys like Donovan Ricketts who have over a foot of height on the St John’s product. Hans Backe in preseason spoke highly of his teams’ depth and at the time it was hard for a lot of pundits to see. Now, they know it was not the number of players but the varying positions his players could play.
New York has a quick turnaround to their final game before a three-week break. The Red Bulls host Chivas USA Wednesday night at 7pm eastern at Red Bull Arena. Chivas is coming off a big win in the Super Classico over their roommate, the LA Galaxy.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
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