NWSL Rewind: Dash's Morales rips ref after Lloyd red card
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Jul 10, 2017
"I hope that they look at the footage," said Lloyd. "We will appeal it, but in my opinion the Portland player had her foot up in the air as well too trying to kick the ball in the air."
Late in her stint at Manchester City, Lloyd was red carded and handed a three-game suspension after receiving a red card for elbowing a Yeovil Town opponent.
Lloyd's red card on Saturday came a minute after Lindsey Horan -- a player Dash head coach Omar Morales thought should not have still been in the game -- equalized for Portland.
"The reaction is that it should not have been a red card," Morales said of the Lloyd foul, "it may have been a yellow at most. If that is a yellow, then Horan should have had seven yellows and it’s a different game. The consistency of the refereeing in this league is not there. I think it's the most deficient part of our game, unfortunately. The biggest thing is, do they watch these games, do they learn, is there a growth factor with what they do or do they just do a game, go home and sleep it off?"
Lloyd wasn't the only player sent off on Saturday. FC Kansas City's Shea Groom was red carded at the end of the first half, and FCKC, which was leading, 2-0, went on to lose to Sky Blue FC, 3-2, on Australian Sam Kerr's hat trick in the game's final 12 minutes.
After the game, FCKC coach Vlatko Andonovski told the Kansas City Star the NWSL was best league in the world but with a few exceptions, it "has the worst referees in the world."
Kerr is now tied with Seattle's Megan Rapinoe for the NWSL scoring lead with nine goals and holds the league career scoring record with 35 goals, two ahead of Jessica McDonald.
There was also controversy at the Maryland SoccerPlex, where the Washington Spirit was awarded a last-minute penalty kick converted by Mallory Pugh to give the Spirit a 2-2 tie with Orlando. Pugh's two goals matched Marta's brace for the Pride.
NWSL, Week 12 Results
FRIDAY, JULY 7
Boston 0 Chicago 0.
Att.: 2,435.
SATURDAY, JULY 8
Washington 2 (Pugh 24, pen. 90) Orlando 2 (Marta pen. 10, 56).
Att.: 5,200.
Houston 1 (Beckie 8) Portland 1 (Horan 90+1).
Att.: 3,869.
North Carolina 2 (Hatch 33 Zerboni 81) Seattle 0.
Att.: 3,565.
Sky Blue FC 3 (Kerr 78, 81, 90) FC Kansas City 2 (Bowen 29, Gibbons 42).
Att.: 2,091.
NWSL Standings:
1. North Carolina 27 points;
2. Chicago 24;
3. Sky Blue FC 22;
4. Seattle 20;
5. Portland 19;
6. Orlando 16
7. Houston 14.
8. FC Kansas City, Boston 13.
10 Washington 12.
NWSL Leading Scorers:
G PLAYER (TEAM)
9+3 Samantha Kerr (Sky Blue FC)
9 Megan Rapinoe (Seattle)
8+2 Marta (Orlando)
5 Sarah Killion (Sky Blue FC)
5 Christen Press (Chicago)
4+1 Ashley Hatch (North Carolina)
4 Nadia Nadim (Portland)
4 Francisca Ordega (Washington)
4 Christine Sinclair (Portland)
9 comments about "NWSL Rewind: Dash's Morales rips ref after Lloyd red card".
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I will never understand the insistence of women's soccer, be it at the collegiate, international, or professional level, in using female referees. I shouldn't matter in the SLIGHTEST whether the official is male or female, as they are NOT a part of the game. Get the best officials REGARDLESS of gender, and this crap will stop happening, particularly at the professional and international levels.
The best soccer is played were the best players are. If US Soccer can't see fit to schedule the best referee's, instead of using the NWSL as a training ground for young, unproven referee's, then perhaps the best players should take their talents elsewhere and play in Europe, Japan, Australia... The red card on Lloyd was questionable. The red card of Shea (KC was a joke). The PK against Orlando was questionable. But what all three games had in common was the call went for the home team. Coincidence? Or unable to handle pressure? Regardless three teams all lost valuable points because referee's made the incorrect call and were guessing.
The best soccer is played where the best referees are...don't kid yourself.
They use females because some people feel they must use females because it's the women's game. But they will review it at arbitration. Tell you one thing that was a beautiful through pass by Lloyd on that previous play very nice.
The sky blue team has some pretty good passing.
The quality of a referee is NOT gender related. We have seen some VERY poor performances in the MLS by men. Both need more/better training.
Everyone is whining, insistent the referee got it wrong. I'm going to say let's assume the referee got it right--she saw something and immediately went to her back pocket. These people aren't morons, despite the comments here claiming otherwise. It's late in the game so everyone is tiring, there are a ton of these 50-50 balls that women play out of the air with their feet rather than their chest, so this kind of challenge happens frequently. I haven't seen the match report but from what the replays show Carli's foot (studs out) appears to strike the opponent's leg and Weber goes down. That is a red card all day. What Carli says about the other player having her leg up as well has no bearing since Weber's cleat was not facing Carli. Since LLoyd is the one with the cleat facing the opponent, it is her responsibility to not injure her opponent. Should officials whistle for a high boot (dangerous play, indirect) foul when no contact occurs? Yes, but it disrupts the flow and I'd say it's perceived as a youth soccer infraction and isn't called often at the professional level. So if officials called that foul more often, perhaps women wouldn't wave their legs around as often in such an indiscriminate manner. And then we'd be whinging about all the indirect fouls breaking up the flow of the game. My guess is that Carli gets suspended 1-3 games and that's the last we hear of it.
No one is saying Lloyd's wasn't a foul. But not a red. Especially when you take into account that the game had less than a minute and both players had legs up running at ball. This was not a cleats-up, over-the-top challenge. And then the red card on Shea from KC was even a bigger travesty. Male or Female - the officiating needs to improve.
Pele, you had me until the "less than a minute", left. If it happens call it. What time is it...irrelevant.