Play of the week: NE vs MTL
This week’s Play of the week is taken from the New England Revolution versus Montreal Impact game.
It highlights the criteria in law a referee has to consider when a player is guilty of Denying an opponent an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity.
Training & Development Manager Paul Rejer explained: “Following an excellent through ball into the penalty area by Impact’s Felipe, and a great passive offside call by AR Daniel Belleau, Di Vaio firstly attempts a shot but miss-hits the ball.
“It stays within his control, however, and he goes beyond the keeper, who then reaches out and trips Di Vaio.
“As the incident happens, referee Sorin Stoica has to consider the following criteria:
– The direction of the play
– The distance between the offence and the goal
– The likelihood of the player keeping or gaining control of the ball
– The proximity of both the attacker and defender to the ball
– The location and number of defenders
– The opportunity for an obvious attempt on goal
“Sorin Stoica has to quickly process the above criteria, in particular the likelihood of the player keeping or gaining control of the ball.
“As the ball was moving at a fairly slow pace, if he hadn’t been tripped there is no doubt that Marco Di Vaio would have gained control of the ball and slotted it into an empty goal. The referee decided correctly that Matt Reis had Denied an opponent an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity.”