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MLS Matchday 25: A Look Back

Shalrie Joseph 1 (ISIphotos.com)

You might not have realized it, but there were MLS matches this past weekend. Three matches were on the slate on a full day of World Cup qualifying, so it was easy to miss it.

What you missed, if you didn't notice, were some pretty significant results. New England Revolution saw its three-match winning streak snapped as a controversial red card issued to Shalrie Joseph set the tone in a 4-2 loss to Kansas City. The result helped the Wizards snap a six-match winless streak and a four-match scoreless slump.

Colorado gave its playoff hopes a boost with a 1-0 win vs. Toronto FC as Conor Casey made the most of being released by the U.S. national team by scoring the game-winning goal.

D.C. United earned a road point but missed out on golden opportunity for three points in a 2-2 tie vs. lowly FC Dallas, a result that leaves D.C. in a four-team tie for the final two playoff spots in MLS.

Back to the Revs loss. Here is a video clip of the red card issued to Joseph. You decide if the call was legitimate:

What did you think of the call? Legitimate red card or questionable call? My take? It sure looked more like Joseph was attempting to kick the ball away rather than delivering a deliberate studs-up challenge on Jack Jewsbury (not that Joseph was wearing studs). I think it was a yellow card at most.

Did you catch any MLS action on Saturday? Think Colorado is ready to be a playoff lock? Starting to wonder of D.C. will make the post-season?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. It appears, from the the position of his socks, that Shalrie wasn’t wearing proper shin guards.

    That’s a yellow in itself. It appears to me that the ref was cutting him some slack. And here he goes, committing this awful foul. Trying to take advantage of the ref’s good nature.

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  2. Shalrie doesn’t even wear molded cleats- he wears turf shoes – he should have take off his shoe and thrown it at Anno — 8 Reds the Ref has given in his 11 games?? Terrible

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  3. Come on Massachusetts, make some noise about getting that soccer stadium built. Not saying it’s the fans’ fault, but I’d love to be able to visit a Revs stadium without lines and turf

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  4. Joesph is a talented player but he has a tendency towards overly-physical and reckless play on occasion, especially when frustrated.

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  5. AWFUL CALL — REALLY HURTS SHALRIE’S MVP CHANCES — THIS REV HAS GIVEN OUT 8 REDS IN THE 11 MLS GAMES HE HAS DONE — ADD HIM TO THE LIST OF REFS DONE IN THE MLS

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  6. Wow. That’s unbelievable. I’d have a hard time arguing that it was a clear foul let alone a card. THere didn’t seem to be any contact with the ‘studs up’ foot. Also we can always bitch and moan about the bad officiating and I’m nto saying that it’s not a problem but part of the responsibility lies with the players rolling around on the ground like you’ve been shot then popping up and running full speed makes you a scumbag in my book. Things aren’t going to get better until the players themselves decide that it’s not acceptable behavior.

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  7. What’s up w/ Colorado’s attendance!? I mean, when I watched the Chicago Fire/United game I thought that Toyota Park was kind of empty…but damn! Dick’s was a ghost town. Come on Colorado!

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  8. I don’t think that’s red card worthy. Dangerous? Possibly. Red card? No, it really looks like he’s trying to clear the ball. And credit the Wizard player with acting, too. Didn’t get a good angle, but it looks like he was barely touched.

    (Full disclosure: Revs fan.)

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  9. I was there and it didn’t look like a red, maybe a yellow:contact was minimal and Shalrie was going for and got the ball..Jewsbury made the most of it, but there was no intent to injure him. I only wish the ref had been more evenhanded with his cards. KC got away with a lot of cheap shots, and they were a man up. It was an awful game.

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  10. shalrie went for the ball.jewsbury got scared and dove out of the way. ref was screened by a player and only saw the beginning and end, not the middle of the play.

    i am so sick of playing kansas city. i walked out after the card and watched the USMNT game at cbs scene.

    and karma still has hercules gomez’s number.

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  11. @MVK – Correct, prior to this game, Lance Watson was red carded late in the last time the Wizards were in Gillette. Prior to that was Superliga which Videira was carded for a high elbow. Prior to that was in KC where Osei kicked out at Lopez and got a red card. In the last game of last season, Badilla got a red on a DOGSO and then Khano Smith had a red for a very bad tackle on Gomez (in a game where Gomez was hit at every opportunity). The last game which finished 11v11 was the one where Ralston’s leg was broken.

    As for the red card, I do think that Anno gives out a good deal of red cards, but as people have said – look at those cards given in the Confed Cup… perhaps teaching our players to be a bit more cautious isn’t a bad thing.

    It’s pretty obvious that Anno gave this card due to the overall recklessness of the tackle rather than the actual contact between the players. The thinking there is that, should contact like that ever be made, the red card issued would be of little solace to the player who just got his leg broken and possibly his career ended.

    Despite that, I don’t disagree it is a tad harsh. An angle they put up later shows that there really wasn’t a huge risk of leg-breaking in this situation.. but the ref doesn’t get to review 5 different angles in super-slow-mo before making their decisions, and I agree with the stance that professional athletes outside of American Football, MMA, etc. should not have their well-being put at great risk simply for the entertainment of others.

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  12. Backround also comes into play, these teams have been back and forth with red cards since Gomez broke Ralstons leg on a clumsy tackle (less force than this one) then the following meeting Khano or whoever that guy is that got let go attempted a two footed leg break on Gomez 5 yards out of play… I am very sure the history was gone over by the officals before the game.. I dont think the Wiz and Revs have played an 11v11 game in over a year against each other…

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  13. That was a terrible challenge by Joseph. If he does connect he could severely injured the other man which warrants the card. I don’t think he had any intention other than going for the ball though.

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  14. Those clips didn’t show the true story. There are others out there that showed that Joseph totally missed Jewsbury and that Jewsbury basically dove

    Not only did it cost the Revs any chance of winning but ruined the game for the fans that paid to see a game AND cost the Revs one of their best players in the next game.

    As poor a call as it was, I would feel better if the league, after watching the tapes, admitted that the Ref blew it and revoked the red card. A screw up like that is too important to let slide when teams are trying to make the playoffs. The league tacks on extra penalties when things are bad … why can’t they overturn something when a mistake was made?

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  15. “Going for the ball” is a rec league excuse. That was an ugly challenge no matter what his intent was. It deserved a yellow for sure, and I don’t think the red was out of the realm of reasonable possibilities. I do hate to see early red cards because of how drastically it changes the match, but challenges like that force the ref to make a tough decision. (Something you don’t want MLS refs to do. Ever.)

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  16. As much as I like MLS and want it to keep growing, I really hate this time of the season for one major reason. I can’t bring myself to watch a game on a field littered with American Football lines.

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  17. Well, his foot wasn’t anywhere near the ball. Probably not a red, but I don’t really understand what Joseph was doing.

    The Serioux red was deserved. He made absolutely no play on the ball at all.

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  18. It did not look particularly nasty, but it did not look like much of an attempt for the ball either. He chops his foot forward and downward a good foot away from the ball, in the general area of the guys knee. I’m not sure if it was a lazy challenge or what, but I dont really have a problem with that gettign someone tossed out. I did not have much “soccer intent” in my mind, which I always think should be a key part of a sending off decision. If a play is questionable but seemed to at least be part of a fight for the ball, you can give some slack, but if a player does not seem to be going after the ball but simply going at another player, I dont mind even minor infractions getting a red.

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  19. From the refs perspective it probably looked like he caught Jewsbury with his studs. From the replay it’s clear that Joseph studs missed his leg but caught him with his hip. Jewsbury makes a meal out of it and the ref goes for the red. It happens.

    I still have visions of Joseph stuffing all 8 studs into an upright Jaime Moreno’s gut in the first minute of the 2004 conference final. I guess he thought that is ok.

    Speaking of making a meal out of it, New England has be dining out on MLS refs for years. I guess this is just karma.

    The best part is the obligatory outrage by Nicol. I don’t think there has be a game where he has ever been beaten by a better team. He always has a lame excuse.

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  20. oh and poor tackle by Joseph… studs up is studs up. But how do you expect guys to play when they aren’t even on a real pitch? Both the foul and the pitch remind me of high school.

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  21. Erm, it looks like he kicks completely past the other player – and it was a lame kick at that.

    No malicious intent. Not a “studs up” challenge. Just a bad kick. A penalty, sure. MAYBE a yellow (I wouldn’t give one). Definitely not a red.

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  22. you don’t need studs to do serious damage, especially when it’s foot-on-knee. even if it was an accident, that was a seriously dangerous play. definitely not the worst call of the year.

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  23. its the studs up follow thru when he snapped his leg that cause the card… comments like “was there even contact” have nothing to do with anything, if there were contact this wouldnt be an issue because we would have a 1 legged Wizard.

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  24. real question is why the heck MLS had games during an international weekend. Does MLS scheduling not get it? The rest of the world (i think) doesn’t play during internationals because the best players are busy.

    Of course maybe MLS has realized it’s player pool is lowsy on the international scale.

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  25. Ludicrous. Joseph’s toe was pointed down and he was lunging for the ball. It’s borderline yellow.

    CONCACAF is surely looking into ways to assign that ref to the USMNT’s next game.

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  26. I’m not saying it was intentional, but Joseph’s foot landed, oh, about A FOOT ABOVE THE BALL DIRECTLY INTO THE GUY’S KNEE. Again, I truly am not judging him, but given the red cards we have seen this year this one isn’t even int he top ten of bad calls. He probably was going for the ball, but Shalrie Joseph is one of the best players in the league and he missed the ball by a foot and destroyed a guy’s knee in the process.

    It could have been an accident, but I have seen many worse calls this year.

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  27. That card was a joke, much like the quality of officiating in MLS. Red card for a shoulder to Serioux & a red to Joseph for THAT? LOL.

    BUSH

    LEAGUE.

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  28. I may be wrong, but it looked like Joseph didn’t even hit him with his “studs up” foot, but rather knocked him down with his trailing leg.

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  29. i dont think Joseph had any ill will, but you can’t tackle like that, if that connects we have a discusting leg break, which is why you are shown a red for studs up like that… rules are rules Ives, letting reckless tackles go unpunished is probably a reason why we are walking cards in international games

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