NASL Playoff Race: 'Insane call' denies Cosmos playoff-clinching win
- by Paul Kennedy @pkedit, Oct 23, 2017
The Cosmos, who lead the Armada by two points heading into the final week of
the fall season, could have clinched the fourth spot in the semifinals but were denied a fifth goal when referee Geoff Gamble blew the whistle in stoppage time with the Cosmos on a three-on-one
counterattack after Jacksonville brought up keeper Caleb Patterson-Sewell to seek the winner on a corner kick,
“I’ve never seen anything like it," said Cosmos head
coach Giovanni Savarese. "A breakaway to score a goal and the referee actually took the goal away. It’s a goal that could have defined an entire season. I can’t believe that he
called it away. It was insane.”
The Cosmos had come back from 3-1 down to take a 4-3 lead before the Armada's Charles Eloundou scored to even the score.
NASL Results:
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21
Indy Eleven 1 Puerto Rico FC 2
North Carolina FC 1 FC Deltas 1
FC Edmonton 0
Miami FC 2
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22
Jacksonville 4 New York Cosmos 4
NASL Combined Standings:
PTS TEAM
(COMBINED PTS)
66 *Miami FC (30)
54 SF Deltas (28)
44 North Carolina FC (23)
42 New York Cosmos (18)
40 Jacksonville
(16)
32 FC Edmonton (14)
27 Indy Eleven (12)
22 Puerto Rico FC (13)
*Spring champion.
NASL
Schedule:
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25
Puerto Rico FC vs. FC Edmonton 7:30 pm ESPN3
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28
Puerto Rico FC vs. New York Cosmos 7:30 pm beIN
Sports en Espanol
Miami FC vs. FC Edmonton 7:30 ESPN3
SF Deltas vs. Jacksonville 8 pm Twitter
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29
Indy Eleven vs. North Carolina FC 5 pm ESPN3
It would be nice if the almost 7 minutes of highlights included the "insane call" of the headline. Without seeing it, I'm guessing the referee extended the time to allow the corner kick, and was going to call the game if the offensive team did not score. Usually that would not be a problem, since the defense is happy to have the ball cleared and no goal scored. If the keeper is up, and the defensive team maintains possession, should that play (probably already extended to allow the corner to finish) continue, or once the offensive team doesn't score, is it over? I can see both sides.