Bruce Arena, New England Revolution React to Disallowed Stoppage Time Goal

"That’s the third time this year we’ve had a goal taken away on a VAR interpretation.”

Photo By ©J. Alexander Dolan

The New England Revolution suffered a 2-1 defeat to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night but it wasn’t without controversy.

As time was winding down, Andrew Farrell launched an absolutely beautiful strike from outside the box that blasted into the back of the net. The Revolution appeared to have snuck out of Red Bull Arena with a point.

But of course, Video Review had to insert itself into the match. After the goal was awarded, Giacomo Vrioni was ruled offside. This was similar to the Dylan Borrero goal that was disallowed with Gustavo Bou being ruled offside.

Head coach and sporting director Bruce Arena was asked about the call and once again expressed his disappointment with VAR.

“No, but the ball was deflected by a Red Bull player, so the goal should have been good. That’s my opinion of it,” Arena said. “They said [Giacomo] Vrioni was interfering with the goalkeeper. I think with the Red Bull player deflecting the ball, the goal should be allowed. That’s the third time this year we’ve had a goal taken away on a VAR interpretation.”

Beyond Arena, multiple players took to social media to express their disappointment with the call. Carles Gil (who was suspended for the match) and DeJuan Jones (playing for the USMNT in the Gold Cup) were unhappy with the call.

Jones tweeted that it was a “shocking decision” while Gil went to Instagram where he posted a story that said “que verguenza” which roughly translates to “what a shame” (thank you Google Translate).

The disallowed goal wasn’t the only call that Arena was unhappy with. Latif Blessing was issued a straight red card after his studs connected with the midsection of a Red Bull player.

Arena called this a soft call and expressed his disappointment with the referee.

“Latif’s red was pretty soft,” Arena said. “Obviously, when you see the game that referee had, nothing should surprise you. They can certainly argue that it’s a red because [Blessing] may have hit him with a [cleat] stud in the thigh.”

While the goal call will be debated for days to come, it is hard to argue that Blessing deserved a yellow. His studs connected with the opponent and Blessing didn’t even connect with the ball.

But there has been another addition to the long-standing rivalry between Bruce Arena and VAR. It surely won’t be the last.