As entertaining as Sunday night's 2-1 affair between the Montreal Impact and Columbus Crew SC was, the match featured more than its fair share of controversy.
Bookended by an uncertain call on a goal taken off the board, along with what seemed to be a wrestling move, the controversy largely followed–who else?–Montreal’s star striker Didier Drogba.
Confusion began in the 15th minute, when Drogba found himself on a breakaway toward goalkeeper Steve Clark with only defender Michael Parkhurst at his side. As the pair fought over the ball, Parkhurst was tossed to the side before Drogba’s shot took a deflection off of Clark, back off of the striker, and into the goal.
But a whistle brought Drogba’s celebration to a halt. Referee Chris Penso had ruled the goal off for some reason. After review, the ball bounced directly off the outstretched hand of Drogba before flying into the goal. But Penso didn’t make the call for handling.
"Drogba was whistled for a careless foul against Parkhurst (pushing),” the official wrote in his explanation of the play.
Impact coach Mauro Biello wasn’t sure what to make of the play.
“The first one, he said he fouled him,” Biello told reporters. “I just saw it now, and it was very soft, that call on Drogba. We just finished a game against Toronto where there was a lot of contact, a lot of physical play. And then, a minimal contact and it was called a foul. To me, it's a little suspect there.”
Fouls continued throughout the match. Several times, players went chest-to-chest in confrontations that often involved Drogba as well.
Crew SC midfielder Wil Trapp said the match wasn’t “overly chippy,” but admitted it had a more physical nature than most.
“Maybe it seemed that way because of the yellow cards and all that,” he said. “But I think there’s a mutual respect between guys. It didn’t seem any worse than any other game where there’s tackles flying. It’s a playoff game. The intensity is ramped up, the physicality is amped up, so it’s not surprising that there were a little more fouls and yellow cards as well.”
But the most physical moment came with just three minutes to play.
Drogba raced after Clark, who was about to clear the ball out of his box. Clark kicked it long, and Drogba collided with him after the ball left his foot. When Clark tried to stand up, Drogba clung to him as the goalkeeper screamed to get Penso’s attention.
Ultimately, Drogba was issued a yellow card, baffling onlookers in the process.
“I can’t understand what he’s doing in that situation,” Trapp said with a laugh. “It will be interesting to see what the league has to say about it because it doesn’t make sense in a lot of ways. I guess we’ll see what MLS has to say.”
“It’s something that happens in the game,” Crew SC coach Gregg Berhalter added. “In my eyes, I think the referee was right by cautioning him and it potentially could have been even more.”
