Head coach Frank Yallop criticized referee Chris Penso for what he called a “phantom red card” as ten-man Chicago Fire fell to their second defeat to Columbus Crew SC in five days.
The 3-1 result at MAPFRE Stadium was harsh on the visitors, who found themselves on the wrong end of a 12-second penalty call, had two goals disallowed and saw Jason Johnson sent off on the back of two yellow cards.
Johnson went down somewhat theatrically following heavy contact from Michael Parkhurst in the box in the 50th minute to earn his second yellow of the night for simulation.
The decision left Johnson and his teammates reeling, and Yallop could not hide his opinions in his post-game analysis.
“Well, obviously, result-wise – not very good, but I thought we played pretty well,” Yallop told reporters. “Up until the phantom red card, I don’t see it. I thought it was a penalty kick. I thought the game was an even game up until the red card, and then it’s very tough, which I didn’t think it was a red card. It’s tough to lose, but I thought it was a poor game from us call-wise and in the end it costs you.”
Winger David Accam, starting for the first time since June 6, shared his coach’s frustrations and lamented the ease at which they gave up two first-half goals; the opening penalty which was converted by Federico Higuain and the 17th-minute header from Kei Kamara, MLS’ leading goal scorer with 14 goals.
“I think we gifted them two easy goals, but for me, the performance from everyone [was good],” Accam, who scored a team-leading fifth of the season with a ninth-minute free kick. “Everyone worked really hard. On another day, we might get a good result because we worked so hard, even though we gave them two easy goals. I’m really proud of the team because they did really well.”
Local product Collin Fernandez came on late for his Fire debut and actually found the back of the net with a free kick, but Penso called it back for a foul.
“I thought the team worked well, I thought there were a couple of errors defensively,” the 18-year-old said. “We need to work on it, we need to pick it up. The refs didn’t treat us too well in the game, but we can’t blame them [for the loss]. We just got to keep working hard and looking forward to the next game.”
“The feelings are unexplainable, it was a tremendous feeling,” Fernandez added after making his MLS debut. “I couldn’t have imagined it. I have been dreaming about [making his debut] ever since I was a little kid playing for the Fire, but I am happy to have made my debut for the Chicago Fire tonight. Tough result, but we are going to bounce back on Wednesday in the Open Cup.”
