Atlanta United was beaten by New York Red Bulls 1-0 on Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on a controversial goal by Caden Clark.
On the goal, Clark shoots from the top of the penalty box. The ball passes by several players from both teams. There are two Red Bulls players in offside positions. One of them, Daniel Royer, is just to goalkeeper Brad Guzan’s left and about two yards in front of him. As the shot approaches Royer, he moves to his left out of the way of the shot.
But as Atlanta United midfielder Jeff Larentowicz said: Guzan doesn’t know that Royer is offside and doesn’t know if Royer is going to attempt to play the ball.
Guzan immediately ran to Marrufo and argued that Royer interfered with him.
Referee Jair Marrufo declined to go to a video monitor to review the play and allowed the goal to stand.
He issued this explanation after the game: “Royer is not in the line of vision of Guzan. He also does not make any clear action that has an impact on Guzan’s ability to play the ball.”
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Atlanta United manager Stephen Glass described Marrufo as one of the top officials in MLS but couldn’t understand why he declined to review the play on one of the nearby monitors. He also said that Royer was offside.
Larentowicz was more succinct, saying that he thinks Alan Kelly, the VAR, is probably the best official in the MLS, but “I think they get it wrong.”
This is the second time this type of play has happened in Atlanta United’s series with Red Bulls. In the 2018 Eastern Conference finals, a goal scored by Red Bulls was called back because of interference.
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