3 things we learned from NYCFC's 3-2 loss to the Columbus Crew

2. The VAR decision was criminal

One call that was criminal and terrible in every way was the penalty kick given against NYCFC.  Truthfully, it was only a matter of time before the Pigeons were on the end of a horrible call like that, for the PRO Referees are notorious for making bad decisions.  Yet, Da Silva needs to understand what the words clear and obvious means.

Nobody in their right mind would have thought there would be a VAR review after the sequence of defensive plays to protect Matt Freese and the goal in the 58th minute.  However, someone told the referee to review it, and he did.

The foul in the box that was reviewed involved Hannes Wolf making contact with Mohamed Farsi.  Wolf made contact with Farsi which may or may not look like a push.  At the same time, the Columbus player looked to have fallen to the ground quite easily.  Perhaps the contact made him fall, but it was difficult to see.

More importantly, when VAR is used to overturn or make a call, it must be clear and obvious.  A referee should not spend more than 30 seconds or even a minute to review something.  If it is not clear and obvious, then nothing should change.  But Da Silva had other ideas, and he decided to change the definitions of the words. 

After review, he declared something that was a soft call was a foul.  This led to the penalty kick where Hernández scored the Crew’s third goal.  This decision, as one could tell, was the decider in the game.  If the referee had not made such a criminal call, then NYCFC would have walked away with a point.  Instead, the bad call hurt the Pigeons.

Of course, it was not the best game.  Sometimes referees make poor calls.  But between the red card and the collapse at the beginning of the second half, NYCFC is at fault for the loss.  Blame cannot entirely be placed on the referee.  The Bronx team struggled though, so the VAR call made a major difference in the match. It does not help that the wrong call was made.