MLS Week 13 Reports

Seattle 1-0 Colorado                         Referee: Ricardo Salazar (United States)
Salazar has drawn the ire of Sounders fans in the past, but he was spot on today. Nice work by him and his crew.

LA Galaxy 1-0 Real Salt Lake          Referee: Baldomero Toledo (United States)
Toledo had two key calls to make and I agree with his decisions on both.
5th Minute: LA are bringing the ball forward when Jamison Olave makes a sliding challenge on an LA player in the box. He executes the challenge cleanly, but the ball takes an unfortunate deflection onto his hand. Toledo calls a penalty and he is right even though the contact was unintentional, because it still stopped LA from getting a chance on goal.
91st Minute: Olave loses out on a challenge to Robbie Keane and shows his frustration with an elbow to Keane's head. Toledo correctly sends Olave off for violent conduct.

Portland 1-0 DC United                    Referee: Chris Penso (United States)
Penso had a good match with no controversy. Nice work by the up-and-coming young referee.

Sporting Kansas City 4-0 Dallas       Referee: David Gantar (Canada)
Gantar had just one tough call in this match, but I think he did get it right.
43rd Minute: SKC's Krisztian Németh breaks away from already booked defender Zach Lloyd, forcing Lloyd to grab onto his leg to halt the attack. Gantar correctly shows Lloyd a second yellow for stopping a promising attack. Good call by Gantar, who was announced as a Gold Cup Referee just before the game. Congratulations to him on that assignment!

Toronto 3-1 San Jose                         Referee: Fotis Bazakos (United States)
Bazakos made one penalty call, which I think he absolutely got right.
23rd Minute: TFC's Ashtone Morgan blocks a Chris Wondolowski shot with his hand. Bazakos calls a penalty, and I agree since Morgan made a clear attempt to block the shot.

Vancouver 2-1 Real Salt Lake           Referee: Jair Marrufo (United States)
Marrufo, another MLS referee who was recently announced as a Gold Cup referee, didn't see much controversy in this match. Nothing to go in depth on here.

NYCFC 1-1 Houston                         Referee: Sorin Stoica (Canada)
Stoica had one big decision to make in this match, but I unfortunately disagree with his decision.
45th Minute: An NYCFC player heads the ball onto Houston Defender Raul Rodriguez's hand. To me this isn't a handball because Rodriguez's hand was less than a foot away from the NYCFC player's head. Since there was no reaction time, I would call it incidental contact and not award a penalty.

DC United 2-1 Philadelphia                Referee: Ted Unkel (United States)
Unkel had one important PK decision late in the game and the team worked together to get it right.
84th Minute: Zach Pfeffer of Philadelphia tries to defend a high cross in his box, but is forced to control the ball with his hand. It was near impossible for Unkel to see from the angle he was at, but AR James Conlee signals for the handball. Great job cooperating from the two referees on that play.

Orlando 2-2 Columbus                        Referee: Silviu Petrescu (Canada)
Petrescu made the week's most contentious call when he awarded Orlando a questionable penalty.
18th Minute: Orlando superstar Kaká takes a shot that deflects off Michael Parkhurst on the goal line. Petrescu calls a penalty and sends Parkhurst off for what he deemed was a handball. However when I look at the replay, though the ball did hit Parkhurst's arm, I don't think there was anything he could have done about it since his arm was tucked at his chest. It's a tight call, but for me it's a play on.

Chicago 3-0 Montreal                         Referee: Allen Chapman (United States)
Chapman had two important decisions to make tonight but I'm only fully sold on one.
37th Minute: Montreal's Marco Donadel, already booked, slides in late on Matt Polster's ankles. Chapman shows a second yellow, which is absolutely correct, though I wouldn't have minded a straight red due to the severity of the challenge. Regardless, good work by Chapman to make sure Donadel's night was done.
45+1st Minute: Montreal's Bakary Soumare makes a last ditch effort on David Accam near the goal. Chapman judges that Soumare didn't get the ball and calls a penalty, and I don't really have the replay to prove whether he was correct. My best guess, though, is that there was enough contact to warrant contact.

Colorado 1-2 Portland                        Referee: Ismail Elfath (United States)
Elfath, coming off of a very difficult assignment last week, had a stellar performance today with little controversy and nothing to go in depth on.

Seattle 2-1 New York Red Bulls        Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero (United States)
Rivero had a very good match with no controversy. Nothing to look at here.

New England 2-2 Los Angeles          Referee: Alan Kelly (Ireland)
Kelly was stellar in a match where he didn't have to make any calls. Again, nothing to look at.

Thanks for reading!

UEL Final: Atkinson with strong performance.

Sevilla vs. Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk
Referee: Martin Atkinson (England)
Assistant Referee: Mike Mullarkey (England)
Assistant Referee: Stephen Child (England)
Additional Assistant Referee: Anthony Taylor (England)
Additional Assistant Referee: Andre Marriner (England)
Fourth Official: Pavel Kralovec (Czech Republic)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Jake Collin (England)

The team warms up prior to the match (source: UEFA.com)

MATCH REVIEW

31st Minute: Carlos Bacca scores to make it 2-1 Sevilla after AR Stephen Child correctly keeps his flag down on a tight call. Nice work by Child on that play, making a correct call on the game's most difficult decision.

Overview: Overall, the match was very quiet for Atkinson, though he had two minor penalty appeals to deal with from Sevilla (in minutes 6 and 69). I do agree with his no penalty calls, as both plays seemed like good plays by the defense more than penalties. One more note on Atkinson: I really admire the way he moved past the criticism he received from two tough outings this EPL season (Chelsea-Burnley and Liverpool-Man Utd). Most importantly, Congratulations to all the officials on a great match!

MLS Week 12 Reports

Sporting Kansas City 4-2 New England            Referee: Allen Chapman
Chapman had one penalty call, which I unfortunately think he got wrong.
42nd Minute: Revs defender Jose Goncalves slightly pulls the arm of Dom Dwyer in the box, prompting a penalty call from Chapman. However, I disagree with the call on the grounds that the contact was so minimal that I don't see how it really affected the way Dwyer was making his run. Still, the one positive thing I have to say is that Chapman has at least been consistent in calling things tight in the area.

Columbus 2-2 Chicago                                       Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Good game for Bazakos with little controversy. Nothing to go in depth on.

LA Galaxy 1-0 Houston                                     Referee: Ismail Elfath
Elfath had one of the toughest calls of the season so far, but he may have gotten it wrong.
95th Minute: Oscar Sorto of LA slides in from behind on David Horst as Horst exits the area. Elfath calls a foul just outside the box and sends off Sorto for the absurdly dangerous challenge. My only question is whether Houston should have had a PK or a Free Kick. Horst is out of the area when he hits the ground but the contact on his lower leg appears just inside the box. Looked like a near impossible call to me, but I think Elfath did get it wrong.

Toronto 1-0 Portland                                           Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
Gonzalez, who has seen very few matches this year, had no controversy in this match. Nice work from the veteran referee.

New England 1-1 DC United                              Referee: Mark Geiger
Geiger had to show two reds in this match, and I have no problems with either of them.
52nd Minute: New England Defender Chris Tierney wins the ball, but sends his studs into the knee of Chris Pontius before doing so. Geiger shows him a straight red card, and since it was a violent challenge that certainly endangered Pontius, I have no problems at all with the decision. Good call by Geiger.
58th Minute: New England's US International Lee Nguyen is already booked when he pulls back the shoulder of Davy Arnaud and holds on for several seconds. Geiger sends him off and I agree, though I think that if Nguyen had let go earlier it could've been a final warning instead of a second yellow. Regardless, a good call by Geiger.

Montreal 2-1 FC Dallas                                       Referee: Chris Penso
Penso had one PK decision to make and I think he was spot on with it,
24th Minute: Montreal's Andres Romero tries to seal off a ball at the end of the Dallas box when he is bowled over by Moises Hernandez. Penso awards Montreal what was a clear penalty, but what I found most interesting about this play is that AR Jeff Muschik was the one who actually called the foul. Penso just had to decide whether it was in the box or not. Good teamwork by the crew to get the call right.

Colorado 1-0 Vancouver                                     Referee: Jose Carlos Rivero
Rivero had a very good first ninety minutes, but his disallowing of a Pedro Morales goal in stoppage time was strange to say the least. He appears to have whistled for a foul against a Vancouver player in the box, but I just don't see any contact. In my opinion, the goal should have stood.

Seattle 0-0 Kansas City                                        Referee: Jair Marrufo
What was billed as a top game failed to produce, including for Marrufo, who didn't see any controversy.

Salt Lake 2-0 NYCFC                                         Referee: Juan Guzman
Guzman hardly saw any match in this Saturday night showdown. Nice work by him and his crew.

New York Red Bulls 0-2 Philadelphia                Referee: Baldomero Toledo
No controversy for the veteran ref Toledo. Nice work by the whole crew at this match.

San Jose 1-1 Orlando                                           Referee: Allen Chapman
Chapman had 3 tough calls to make, and I agree with 2 of his decisions.
54th Minute: Orlando's Brek Shea makes a lunging slide with studs showing on Samar Nyassi's shins. Chapman gives him a straight red, and I agree. Absolutely no place for challenges like that in any league.
63rd Minute: Cyle Larin of Orlando and San Jose keeper David Bingham both go up for a bouncing ball, with Bingham getting both the ball and Larin. Chapman calls a penalty but I'm not so convinced. Looked like two defenders going up for a ball to me.
67th Minute: Orlando's Darwin Ceren hacks down Jordan Stewart in the area and Chapman correctly points to the spot. Nice call by Chapman on that play.

NOTE: All referees are American, hence the lack of national indication. Thanks for reading!

Key Appointments May 23-25

May 23 
Juventus vs. Napoli (Serie A)
Referee: Luca Banti
Assistant Referee: Fillipo Meli
Assistant Referee: Gianluca Vuoto
Additional Assistant Referee: Andrea Gervasoni
Additional Assistant Referee: Marco Di Bello
Fourth Official: Andrea Edoardo Stefani

Olympiakos vs. Skoda Xhanti (Greek Cup Final)
Referee: Michael Koukoulakis
Assistant Referee: Christos Akrivos
Assistant Referee: Ilias Alexeas
Additional Assistant Referee: Ilias Spathas
Additional Assistant Referee: Andreas Pappas
Fourth Official: Lazaros Dimitriadis

Paderborn vs. Stuttgart (Bundesliga)
Referee: Deniz Aytekin
Assistant Referee: Benjamin Brand
Assistant Referee: Christian Dietz
Fourth Official: Mark Borsch

New England vs. DC United (MLS)
Referee: Mark Geiger
Assistant Referee: CJ Morgante
Assistant Referee: Oscar Mitchell-Carvalho
Fourth Official: Silviu Petrescu

May 24
Hull City vs. Manchester United (BPL)
Referee: Lee Probert
Assistant Referee: Harry Lennard
Assistant Referee: Darren Cann
Fourth Official: Andre Marriner

Newcastle vs. West Ham (BPL)
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Assistant Referee: Mike Mullarkey
Assistant Referee: Stephen Child
Fourth Official: Kevin Friend

May 25
Middlesborough vs. Norwich City (Football League Championship Playoff Final)
Referee: Mike Dean
Assistant Referee: Stuart Burt
Assistant Referee: Simon Long
Fourth Official: Roger East

Lazio vs. Roma (Serie A)
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli
Assistant Referee: Elenito Giovanni Di Liberatore
Assistant Referee: Nicola Andrea Nicoletti
Additional Assistant Referee: Paolo Silvio Mazzoleni
Additional Assistant Referee: Massimiliano Irrati
Fourth Official: Renato Faverani

Feel free to drop any appointments you want added in the comments and I will be sure to put them in.

Premier League Review Week 37

Liverpool 1-3 Crystal Palace                                        Referee: Jonathan Moss
Moss and his crew struggled in this match, making two contentious calls that led to Palace goals.
59th Minute: Wilfred Zaha scores to put Crystal Palace up 2-1, but replays show that he was offside. However, the AR kept the flag down, allowing the goal to stand.
90th Minute: Zaha is tripped up by Lucas Leiva on what looks like edge of the area. Moss calls a penalty in favor of Palace, but replays show that the foul was committed just outside the box. It was a razor thin call but still a huge mistake by Moss.

West Ham United 1-2 Everton                                      Referee: Kevin Friend
Friend didn't have many calls to make, but I think he should have called a penalty early in the match.
13th Minute: A West Ham shot strikes the outstretched arm of Seamus Coleman in the area. It seems like a clear penalty to me, but Friend disagrees and simply awards West Ham a corner. Not the easiest play in the world to spot, but still one Friend should have made.

West Bromwich Albion 3-0 Chelsea                             Referee: Mike Jones
Jones had a very good match, getting two important decisions right.
29th Minute: As Jones deals with a yellow card foul by Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas kicks the ball at a West Brom player's head in a moment of madness. Jones correctly sends Fabregas off for violent conduct.
46th Minute: John Terry trips up Saido Berahino in the box with a sliding challenge from Berahino's right. Jones awards West Brom the clear penalty, but fails to show Terry the yellow that would have been appropriate in the situation.

Sunderland 0-0 Leicester City                                       Referee: Martin Atkinson
Tottenham Spurs 2-0 Hull City                                     Referee: Anthony Taylor
Burnley 0-0 Stoke City                                                 Referee: Michael Oliver
QPR 2-1 Newcastle                                                      Referee: Lee Probert
Southampton 6-1 Aston Villa                                       Referee: Robert Madley
Swansea City 2-4 Manchester City                               Referee: Mark Clattenburg
Manchester United 1-1 Arsenal                                    Referee: Mike Dean
No controversy for these seven and their crews. Nothing to look at here.

MLS Week 11 Reports

DC United 2-1 Orlando City SC              Referee: Jorge Gonzalez (United States)
Good match for Gonzalez. No controversy to look at.

NYCFC 2-2 Chicago                                Referee: Ted Unkel (United States)
Unkel has seen many big game appointments so far, and that continued with this match in New York.
26th Minute: Chicago's David Accam breaks forward towards the goal, and RJ Allen has no choice but to trip him from behind in the box. Unkel calls a penalty and then issues a red card to Allen for Denial of an Obvious Goal-Scoring Opportunity (also known as a tactical foul).

FC Dallas 0-0 New York Red Bulls          Referee: Ricardo Salazar (United States)
Salazar had a good match, continuing a good start to the season. Nothing to go in depth on.

Montreal 4-1 Real Salt Lake                      Referee: Silviu Petrescu (Canada)
Petrescu has certainly had his struggles this year, but he righted his ship in Salt Lake today.
42nd Minute: Petrescu points to the spot after Dominic Oduro of Montreal is tugged by Elias Vazquez in the box. I had a tough time seeing the contact at first, but a second look proved that there was a clear jersey tug by Vazquez. Good decision by Petrescu.

Vancouver 0-2 Seattle                                Referee: Mark Geiger (United States)
Geiger was up to his usual high standards in a match that required just one yellow card. No controversy at the BC Place.

New England 1-1 Toronto                         Referee: Sorin Stoica (Canada)
Stoica has seen some tough matches this year, but this was not one of them. Very little controversy from this match.

Houston 3-1 Portland                                  Referee: Edvin Jurisevic (United States)
Jurisevic continued our trend of clean matches free of controversy with his performance in this match. Nothing to look at here either.

San Jose 2-0 Columbus                               Referee: Kevin Stott (United States)
Stott had a very good match, shaking off recent tough outings.
33rd Minute: Columbus Midfielder Mohammed Saeid was already on a yellow when he recklessly took out Shea Salinas at midfield. Stott gives him a second yellow and replays show that he was absolutely correct since the challenge certainly was reckless enough to earn a yellow. Good call by the veteran referee.

Orlando 4-0 Los Angeles                            Referee: Jair Marrufo (United States)
Marrufo had one very difficult call in the match, but I think he was just off.
56th Minute: Galaxy Goalkeeper Jaime Penedo stops Orlando's star Kaka for making an effort on goal. Marrufo, however, believes that Penedo got the man and not the ball, calling a penalty for Orlando. I can't find a conclusive angle, but it looks to me like Penedo got the ball in a clean save. No penalty for me on that play.

Philadelphia 1-0 DC United                        Referee: Alan Kelly (Ireland)
Kelly had a very good match, which included correctly disallowing two goals for clear violations (1 hand, 1 push). Nice work by the veteran Irishman.

Key Appointments May 16-17

May 16
Sunderland vs. Leicester (BPL)
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Assistant Referee: Mike Mullarkey
Assistant Referee: Stephen Child
Fourth Official: Chris Foy

Norwich City vs. Ipswich Town (Football League Championship Playoff Semifinal)
Referee: Roger East
Assistant Referee: Mark Scholes
Assistant Referee: Michael Salisbury
Fourth Official: James Linington

Wolfsburg vs. Dortmund (Bundesliga)
Referee: Marco Fritz
Assistant Referee: Christian Dietz
Assistant Referee: Dominik Schaal
Fourth Official: Mike Pickel

VfB Stuttgart vs. Hamburger SV (Bundesliga)
Referee: Manuel Gräfe
Assistant Referee: Guido Kleve
Assistant Referee: Jan Seidel
Fourth Official: Guido Winkmann

May 17
Manchester United vs. Arsenal (BPL)
Referee: Mike Dean
Assistant Referee: Lee Betts
Assistant Referee: Simon Long
Fourth Official: Michael Oliver

Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona (La Liga)
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco
Assistant Referee: Roberto Diaz Perez Del Palomar
Assistant Referee: Jesus Zancada Lobato
Fourth Official: Carlos Lopez

Feel free to comment with any appointments you want added.