Play of the week: NE vs LA
In week 14’s Play of the week, PRO Training & Development Manager Paul Rejer looks at an incident from the match between New England Revolution and LA Galaxy.
In the seventh minute of the game at the Gillette Stadium, AR2 Eric Procter raised his flag as Gyasi Zardes of LA was in an offside position. However, Stephen McCarthy of New England clearly held back Zardes. The referee, Fotis Bazakos, had a decision to make; does he penalize the offside and award an indirect free kick to New England, or does he award a direct free kick to Galaxy for the foul?
Paul explained: “Bazakos decided to award a free kick to LA Galaxy and, in my opinion, the referee makes the correct call.
“The action by McCarthy in committing the foul prevents Zardes from playing the ball and therefore he does not commit an offside offense. He is only in an offside position and the AR signaled as it seemed obvious that he was going to play the ball but the actions of McCarthey prevented this. If he had not held him back, Zardes would have been penalized for offside.”