By Ridge Mahoney, Senior Editor
A few incidents over the past few weekends of MLS play bear scrutiny.
Kudos to Joe Cannon for snuffing Ronnie Ekelund's penalty kick in the Rapids-Quakes 1-1 tie last Saturday, but how could referee Ricardo Salazar and his assistants not notice Cannon was several yards off the goal line when the ball was kicked?
Cannon also escaped punishment despite denying Donovan a clear goalscoring opportunity when he tripped the Quakes forward.
Although referees are supposed to punish such offenses with a red card, in practice a yellow card is often substituted, since the team suffering the foul is awarded a penalty kick. In the case of Cannon, however, he didn't get a card, and saved the penalty as well.
During the tumultuous D.C. United-Columbus match Sept. 25 defender Ryan Nelsen was sent off for a second yellow card. Nelsen got his first yellow for vehemently protesting a foul called on a teammate; perhaps he mistakenly believed his captain's armband permits him such license. The captain may request an explanation from the referee but the official is under no obligation to give one. And Nelsen's protest was so vituperative it certainly could be deemed dissent.
Nelsen's second caution was given for a late tackle near the sideline on Edson Buddle. The challenge was reckless, if not vicious, and although Buddle evaded the worst of it, Nelsen barreled into the tackle quite late. He cursed at referee Jair Marrufo upon being sent off and was subsequently fined an additional $250 on top of the automatic $250 fine for a red card.
Many times this season referees haven't given out second cautions when they were warranted. One of the more notable examples was Simo Valakari of Dallas, who was cautioned for wiping out Landon Donovan with a wild tackle in the first minute of their game July 7, and later in the first half blatantly halted Donovan's dribble by pulling him back by the jersey.
Valakari not only stayed on the field, he floated a shot into the top corner with two minutes remaining to win the game, 2-1. Hector Tobon was the referee for that match.
Marrufo called a penalty kick Sept. 18 in the Revs' 6-1 rout of the Rapids when Pablo Mastroeni put his hand up for protection and blocked the ball. As harsh as it may appear, Marrufo's call was correct.
A player may not intentionally move his arms or hands to block the ball for any reason, whether it be for protection or otherwise. An exception is the case of a player standing in a wall, who positions his arms and hands for protection prior to the kick being taken.