Colorado Rapids midfielder Cole Bassett, 26, and Real Salt Lake midfielder Nick Besler, 13, become entangled during the first half of an MLS soccer game on Saturday, August 21, 2021 in Commerce City, Colo. (AP Photo / Jack Dempsey ) (Jack Dempsey, Associated Press)
SALT LAKE CITY – Real Salt Lake manager Freddy Juarez is likely to write a check to Major League Soccer. It will be worth it for him.
“It is criminal for them to take something like this away from our boys,” said Juarez of the incumbent immediately after a 2-1 loss to the Colorado Rapids in Commerce City on Saturday.
Sure, the Rocky Mountain Cup is a heated rivalry – evidenced by the numerous shove and scream matches towards the end of the game – but RSL’s real enemy on Saturday was a combination of three letters: VAR.
Replay took an apparent RSL goal off the board in the first half and changed the rule of a penalty kick in the second half. So RSL left Colorado feeling like three points had been stolen from him, especially as Juarez and the team certainly disagreed with one of those decisions.
In the 34th minute Albert Rusnak sent a free kick into the penalty area, where Justen Glad met the Colorado goalkeeper directly. The first shot was brushed aside, but Rubio Rubin flew in and tapped in the first goal of the game.
But after a few moments the referee mimes the dreaded box and goes over to the monitor; he found that Glad was sidelined. It couldn’t have been much – a toe? hair out of place? a little skinny? – but it was enough for him not to allow the gate, much to the chagrin of the RSL side.
“It wasn’t clear and obvious,” said Juarez. “One of the most experienced linemen in the league didn’t hoist that flag. I’ve seen it several times. I mean, come on, it’s not clear and obvious.”
After the game, RSL struggled with the “clear and obvious” criteria. For Real Salt Lake, the replay didn’t show that it was an obvious mistake by the reigning crew. It was close – really close – and Juarez and his team felt that such a close decision should not have been changed.
“I have no idea,” said Rubin. “I’m still confused too. … Clear and obvious is the reason goals are not recognized. And I don’t know what the fine is for when I talk about the referees, but there were clear and obvious claims against us that “was not called and we are called for it today. It hurts us. “
VAR wasn’t done playing with RSL’s emotions, however.
In the second half, after Colorado returned to a 2-1 lead with two quick goals, RSL seemed to have a golden chance of equalizing.
Damir Kreilach was pulled to the ground in the penalty area when he tried to hit a cross at the end. It was a clear foul without a doubt, but it was déjà vu for RSL when the referee signaled again for VAR.
He went to the monitor and saw Kreilach standing offside before the foul was committed. That didn’t mean a penalty.
Adding to RSL’s frustration was that Juarez and Co. felt they had played one of their better games of the season. RSL controlled possession for much of the night and consistently generated solid chances to score. These finally came to fruition – this time for real – in the 51st minute when Rusnak shot a pass from Aaron Herrera into the top corner of the net to make it 1-0.
“Our boys were so brave,” said Juarez. “We pushed, we didn’t let them hold us back for a long time, we were dynamic.”
Colorado equalized in the 64th minute when Diego Rubio hit a header from a corner kick and sent it past Andrew Putna, who replaced Zac MacMath after sustaining a right knee injury in the first half.
Seven minutes later, Colorado’s Mark-Anthony Kaye stormed into the box unnoticed and headed a goal to make the score.
Aside from those 10 minutes, RSL was the better side. That made the bad luck with VAR even harder to swallow.
“I thought they deserved more and they deserved more,” said Juarez. “I thought it was a fantastic performance. We have to take that energy with us into the next few games.”
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