In today’s MLS on NBCSN game (Philadelphia-Dallas), a potential equalizer from Blas Perez was cleared off the line.
Or was it? The consensus among the Twitterati and the great commentary duo of Arlo White/Kyle Martino was that Perez was robbed.
Actually, we don’t know. Here’s why.
The ball was suspended in the air, so we can’t look for a telltale patch of green between the ball and the line, as we often see when the ball bounces down off the crossbar. What we saw was something like this (obviously, minus the batting tee):
Now watch what happens when we put the camera directly overhead:
Don’t trust me or my ancient camera? OK, here’s it is in video form.
Perez wound up getting the equalizer a couple of minutes later, much to the dismay of Philadelphia goalkeeper Zac MacMath, who believed he was fouled. He got little sympathy from anyone not connected with Philadelphia.
Check p. 117: “It is an offence to restrict the movement of the goalkeeper by unfairly impeding him, e.g., at the taking of a corner kick.”
Now check the video. Was he impeded?
That’s a tough judgment call, honestly. At first, I thought so. Now I’m wavering.
Also a tough judgment call: The penalty kick that gave Vancouver a 1-0 win over D.C. United (game literally ended as I typed this sentence). Watch it first, then read this referee’s discussion.
The upshot is this: If a challenge is careless, reckless or used excessive force, it’s still a foul. Doesn’t matter if you got the ball. Players (and players-turned-commentators) argue this point all the time, and they’re wrong — if the referee thinks the challenge is careless, reckless, etc.
Here’s the video: Another tough judgment call.
We’ll close on one that wasn’t tough. This is a dive, folks.
Duresport.com 
If you think the Hamid PK call involved careless, reckless, or excessive force then you’re a clueless tool.
Yes, I’ve seen red cards for excessive force called on position players for winning the ball while going through the man, but I’ve never seen a keeper penalized for getting to the ball first, especially under the guise of excessive force.
If using excessive force was ever called against a keeper, then I expect Matt Reis’s should have seen red for destroying Alecko Eskandarian, but again, it’s a call you never see getting made.
I’m with you on Reis.
In Hamid’s case, I think the most you could say is that it’s “careless,” which would still be a foul. I found a more thorough explanation here:
http://www.askasoccerreferee.com/?p=2339
And the Hamid case might not be the best example. It’s a judgment call, and yeah, this one might be harsh. My intent is to highlight the error of just saying “I got the ball.”
Beau — thanks for pointing that out regarding the ‘I got the ball’. We were steamed at the ref for red-carding the Aztex keeper earlier in the year for a related situation — flattening a player after the player got off his shot. I guess I’ll have to retract my ire.:(