fun game to watch… ref decided to f it up
first of all. to all you referee apologists out there… yes i know the rules. yes i know that boss took down sam-i-am-an-ass. yes, by thebook he was last man. so yes a red card was, by the book warranted… but there is this other part of the game where the referee has some subjective interpretation of the game. ref’s and their bosses talk about it all the time. they have to consider the gravity of the game, the people playing and call the game accordingly.
so here we have celtic, on a preseason tour, with pretty much the only goal of getting in shape against some half way decent opposition. and on the other hand you have the sounders and their fans, enjoying a sunday out with their family and friends against an international opponent.
so sam-i-am-an-ass was taken down in the box, but he still managed to score…. what do you do???
well for me, you play advantage, score the goal, and give boss a yellow for his foul. instead, the ref decided to not pay attention to anything that the game stood for and gave the red to boss and the penalty. whether or not you are buying my argument for keeping boss on the pitch or not, you have to agree, advantage should have been played, and the goal given. in such a case… then the last man should not be given a yellow.
ok, my point is made. the ref f’d it up IMO and the game must go on. the straight haired one scored the pk and the hoops went into the half up 1-0.
after the half, some neanderthal of a man (and seriously, i am not meaning that badly… he was just a hulk) went tearing down the left wing, put in a great cross and a very simple pass into the net saw celtic 2-0 up. it was deserved to be fair.
but then estrada came on and supplied the moment of the match for the sounders. after a bit of a defensive error, he found some space, listened to me yelling “shoot”, and cranked it into the top of the net. you could argue the keeper should have had it, and he should, but frankly, the ball was drilled and the keeper was nothing but shocked to see it coming his way. estrada ALMOST tied it up, but it bounced off the post about 10 minutes later… but it ended 2-1.
the sounders lost, but the game was fun to watch.
a few more random thoughts.
- nkufo gave us something to drool over. he didn’t have too many opportunities, but you could see his thoughts, and his skill… and frankly, mls defenders are not quite as good as those huge celtic defenders of today.
- sorry montero, you got sacrificed. you didn’t deserve to come of so soon, but so goes the protocol when your keeper gets red carded.
- alonso was massive again. time to sign him up for a 32 year contract… or at least the 4 year max.
- nyassi is really showing his maturity. his skill hasn’t changed at all. it is his confidence that is blossoming massively. have he and zakuani EVER been on the pitch at the same time? what is sigi afraid off? too much speed on the wings?
all in all, a fun game to attend. i didn’t get to enjoy all the nuances that the game gave us b/c i had a 4 year old climbing on me, but it was good footy and i am sure the players loved running out against a world renowned team.
also, let’s be glad these celtic savages didn’t sacrifice our young and try to burn all the virgins at the stake. i mean i heard all the stories, so it seems like they behaved themselves all in all.
