CHESTER, Pa. – Crew coach Gregg Berhalter was serious – and seriously frustrated – for the vast majority of a postgame press conference Wednesday that will likely earn him a fine, but he began the seven-minute soundbite by cracking a joke.

“Where’s Petke and Trey when I need them?” Berhalter asked. “Absolutely ridiculous.”

Berhalter referred to Real Salt Lake coach Mike Petke’s postgame rant Saturday in which Petke instructed RSL Vice President of Broadcasting and Communications Trey Fitz-Gerald to pass out printed pictures to underscore his frustrations with the referees after he was ejected from a tie with Sporting Kansas City.

On Wednesday, Berhalter didn’t provide visual aids but made his point clear: He wasn’t happy about the officiating in a 3-0 loss that saw two Crew center backs sent off with red cards.

“When you have to beat Philly and the referees, it’s difficult. But the guys didn’t quit. They kept going, they kept fighting, they kept working. They did more than I could ask of them. I’m proud of them for that,” Berhalter said. “I think every last one of them worked their (tails) off to try to get a result. We were close, but again it’s really challenging when you have to play against 11 players from Philly and four officials.”

Asked what specifically bothered him about the decision to give Jonathan Mensah a red card in the first half and Lalas Abubakar a red card in the second half, Berhalter broadened his scope with respect to the performance of referee Ismail Elfath, assistant referees Peter Manikowski and Logan Brown and fourth official Jose Carlos Rivero.

“I take issue with everything, the whole performance by these referees. The whole performance,” Berhalter said. “To me the whole presentation of the game was disgraceful.

“These referees, the way they officiated this game has nothing to do with soccer.”

This much is clear from Wednesday’s game: Crew SC (10-11-1) struggled to finish chances on offense and eliminate danger on defense well beyond any perceived poor officiating, and perhaps some of Berhalter’s postgame comments served to distract from that performance.

Pressed on his team’s performance, officiating aside, playing a role in the result, Berhalter said: “We could have handled a couple plays better, no question. There was a couple plays we could have done better on.”

Berhalter knew what he was doing when he made his comments, and he’s aware it will likely earn him a fine.

With that in mind, The Dispatch examined each of the red card plays and asked Berhalter and several Crew SC players their thoughts.

Mensah red card

Crew midfielder Justin Meram dribbled ahead in the 35th minute, but was dispossessed not far from the box. Philadelphia then went the length of the field in a matter of seconds.

Union midfielder Haris Medunjanin passed outside to his right back, who quickly tucked a pass into midfielder Roland Alberg, running ahead of Crew midfielder Wil Trapp. Alberg wasted no time sending the ball ahead to forward C.J. Sapong, behind center backs Alex Crognale and Jonathan Mensah.

By the time the ball was on Sapong’s foot, he was within range of the box with Mensah trailing. The center back’s legs tangled with Sapong’s, bringing the forward down from behind just inside the box. Elfath showed Mensah a red card for denial of obvious goal scoring opportunity (DOGSO) and in the aftermath cautioned Lalas Abubakar for dissent.

“No matter how you look at the Mensah challenge, he ends up playing the ball, trying to play the ball and he’s thrown out for DOGSO and it’s a penalty kick and I’m not even sure it’s inside the penalty box on any type of contact initiated,” Berhalter said. “He comes away with the ball.”

Trapp, the team captain, went over to Elfath for an explanation: “The first one, he told me (Mensah) wasn’t even playing the ball. That’s how in his mind it was justified.”

Said forward Ola Kamara: “I think maybe it doesn’t need to be a red card on Jonathan for sure.”

The red card was Mensah’s second of the season. His first came in the closing minutes of a 3-1 loss at Houston Week 2 for sliding into a Houston player with his spikes off the ground.

Abubakar red card

The second red card – shown to Abubakar in the 76th minute – was the one Berhalter spent more time on in his postgame press conference.

Jack Elliott kicked a long ball ahead in the 75th minute. As Abubakar went up for a header, he was shoved by Philadelphia midfielder Ilsinho, drawing a foul. Before he went to continue playing the ball, Abubakar used his hands to brush aside Ilsinho and connected with Ilsinho’s face, sending the Brazilian to the ground. The play drew a straight red card for violent conduct in the 76th, dropping the Crew’s player count to nine.

“He gave me a red card and I don’t know what I did. He shouldn’t have given me a red card,” Abubakar said. “He called a foul for me and I was going to take the ball and (Ilsinho) was right in front of me and I was trying to bump him and go for the ball.”

Asked what he can learn from receiving his first MLS red card, Abubakar said it was difficult to answer.

“I think it’s tough, you know? All the refs are not the same,” Abubakar said. “The way I play is very aggressive, so some of the referees, they don’t like the way I play. I just need to keep my head up and keep going.”

Said Trapp: “The second one, I mean it’s just another play where maybe Ilsinho knows that Lalas is on a yellow card and is maybe looking for a reaction, so it’s unfortunate.”

Berhalter called the motion Abubakar used to bypass Ilsinho a “swim type of move” that led to a red card.

“Lalas gets hammered as the ball’s up in the air. The referee calls a foul. Ilsinho’s trying to block Lalas from getting the ball and playing on,” Berhalter said. “Ilsinho should be ashamed of himself. That has no place in soccer, that type of acting. No place. He’s really hurt? He got hit in the face? What do you think? Seriously.

“He was definitely acting,” Berhalter said. “Ilsinho acting has nothing to do with sportsmanship.”

Berhalter said he would consider appealing Abubakar’s red card. He did not appeal Mensah’s red card Week 2 and did not appeal his own one-game suspension after being ejected in a win over New England earlier this season.

“Lalas is getting scapegoated because he’s so strong and he’s a rookie. It’s true. Lalas is in the league 10 years, (the referee) doesn’t call half the fouls he calls on him. No way,” Berhalter said. “(The referee) doesn’t treat him the way he treats him. No chance.”

Kamara said he didn’t think Abubakar deserved a red card, but admitted it’s probably a learning experience for the rookie.

“As a professional, you know that maybe a Brazilian guy would seek a situation like that,” Kamara said. “You have to stay calm in that situation, but I don’t think it’s a red card on Lalas, either.”

He didn’t take issue, either, with Ilsinho’s foul that started the sequence leading to Abubakar’s red card.

“Of course he does (bait Abubakar). As a professional player you should do that. He’s on the yellow and of course you do that,” Kamara said. “Lalas has to learn that that’s maybe going to happen, especially from a guy like that. Next time he’ll learn from it and it’s no problem.”

Meram didn’t address the specific plays, saying, “I’m not the ref. I can’t make these decisions.”

In general, he added, “It seems like every time we come to Philly we get a red card. Pretty interesting. I want to know the stat of how many years in a row we’ve gotten a red card when we come here.

“Last year (June 1), Conor Casey for barely touching a guy, then that got rescinded. (In 2012) Josh Williams got a red card here. Terrible call,” Meram said. “So, I mean, you’re the stat guy, you can look up and see how many times we’ve gotten a red (in Chester).”

Perceived slights and poor officiating aside, Crew SC left Talen Energy Stadium on Wednesday with less than 72 hours to move on from a three-goal loss. The defeat was Crew SC’s 11th of the season, and with 12 games remaining, it will be important for the Crew to produce wins and ties against below-the-line teams. Wednesday was a missed opportunity.

“I think we just move on. Salt Lake is a big game and it’s going to be hard as the third game in (eight) days,” Kamara said. “We’re looking forward to the game and hopefully we get three points out of it.”





aerickson@dispatch.com

@AEricksonCD