IMAGE, MATT KREMKAU FOR EMPIRE OF SOCCER

by DAVE MARTINEZ

It’s safe to assume New York Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch will be getting an unwelcome phone call from the MLS Disciplinary Committee this week.

Angered by a series of controversial calls and plays, Marsch took aim at referee Mark Geiger and the New England Revolution following Friday’s encounter.

“It’s shameful to me,” Marsch told reporters. “The game is supposed to have an honor.”

That remark was aimed at the Revolution players who continued play several moments after defender Kemar Lawrence crumbled to the ground injured. Kept onside by the prone Jamaican, the Revolution attack found a way to beat Luis Robles for the deciding goal of the match.

“They can claim they didn’t see him, they can claim that they weren’t sure he was hurt,” Marsch said. “It was clear as day that he was down on the ground.

“Not just one player saw him but their whole team saw him. That part for me is shameful.”

Team captain Dax McCarty joined his coach in condemning the Revolution, explaining the ensuing goal by saying, “That’s what desperate teams do.”

“Clearly that was the play that decided the game,” McCarty began. “There are a few different ways you can look at it. Maybe we are a little naive and maybe we should do more to let the ref know we have a guy injured and put it in his hands. Then again, what are we doing? It’s 2016. I guess we are asking refs to be doctors on the moment in the field.

“You would hope the team would recognize [Lawrence’s injury] and knock the ball out of bounds, but in the game these days, sportsmanship is kind of a novel concept we love to talk and think about but I don’t think it exists anymore in the game these days.”

Sportsmanship was only part of the issue. Referee Mark Geiger played a major role in allowing the play to continue — and followed that up with a controversial red card call on Felipe.

“[Geiger] has such a huge impact on this game by having a bad performance,” Marsch stated. “He can blow the whistle when a guy is down like that.”

Felipe put his leg into the path of Kelyn Rowe, winning the ball at midfield. His follow through, however, just clipped Rowe’s ankle, prompting Geiger to pull out a surprising red card.

Barring a decision to overturn the call, Felipe will now miss the Red Bulls’ coming April 9th match against Sporting KC.