New England Soccer Today

Heaps Cites ‘Missed Call’ on Critical Play

Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com

Say what you will about Revolution coach Jay Heaps, but the man sticks to the script when it comes to his perspective on the quality of MLS refereeing.

Following Saturday’s season-opening 1-0 loss at Colorado, Heaps pointed to what he believed was an incorrectly called foul on the buildup to the Rapids’ breakthrough as the moment in which the scales tipped in the Rapids’ favor.

In the 51st minute, Revolution center back Benjamin Angoua and Rapids winger Dominique Badji battled for the ball deep in the New England half before Angoua was whistled for a foul. The Ivory Coast international protested the decision, and seconds later, Dillon Powers sent the free kick into the box where Badji nodded it through.

“It’s unfortunate it came down to a missed call by the referee,” Heaps told the media after the match. “Because obviously it wasn’t a foul from any vantage point, but we have to clean up and make the play better.”

Placing blame on the referee when fortune favors the Revolution foe has become a fairly regular theme in Heaps’ post-game pressers of late.

Last year, Heaps called out referee Nima Saghafi following a 3-0 loss at Philadelphia. A few weeks later, Heaps blasted referee Edvin Jurisevic for what Heaps believed was a missed foul by a Toronto player en route to a second-half equalizer.

Although Heaps wasn’t thrilled with the call against Angoua, he also believed his players could’ve done better to help their own cause. Playmaker Lee Nguyen was limited to 23 touches before he was forced to exit to an ankle contusion in the 56th minute. Making matters worse, the guests completed only a single cross on 23 attempts.

In the end, the club suffered its fourth shutout loss on First Kick in the last six seasons.

“We never really found our game at all, and that’s on us,” Heaps said. “Colorado did a good job, created a goal from a set piece, and we didn’t do the same.”

One Comment

Leave a Reply