BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The goal that snapped his club's five-match unbeaten streak never should have been allowed to stand, Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes said.
"It's a terrible mistake," Vermes told reporters on Wednesday night, after Sporting fell 1-0 to the Chicago Fire on Michael de Leeuw's 19th-minute finish. "It's a terrible mistake."
Vermes said his players hesitated when Chicago's Brandon Vincent took the free kick that led to de Leeuw's goal, because referee Nima Saghafi blew his whistle as Vincent played the ball. Play was allowed to continue, though, and Razvan Cocis crossed to de Leeuw for the tap-in.
"So the referee blows the whistle, and blows the whistle again and our guys stop, they hesitate because he blows the second whistle and what he’s trying to do, he’s trying to get guys to move back,” Vermes said. “But when you do that then you have to restart the play and unfortunately the hesitation happens from guys on our team.
“Look, if you play this game long enough, you know how it works. If you blow the whistle, the play starts. If you blow the whistle a second time, that means the play stops. You don’t communicate by blowing the whistle three times to guys. They don’t know what that means. You blow the whistle once to restart the play. A second whistle right after the first, it means, 'Hold on a second. Something’s going to happen. The referee wants to do something.'"
That wasn't the only decision that unfairly hurt his club, Vermes said, pointing to the offside call that nullified Dom Dwyer's set-piece header in the second minute of a match that started nearly two hours late because of a weather delay. Replays appeared to show Dwyer level with the last defender when Benny Feilhaber sent in his free kick.
"I think first we should start with our goal, which is onsides," Vermes said. "That’s the first thing.”
Sporting had several chances to equalize after de Leeuw's goal, but Jacob Peterson hit the far post in first-half stoppage time and Fire keeper Sean Johnson made two saves down the stretch to preserve Chicago's victory. Those three points came despite Sporting controlling 67.8 percent of possession and outshooting the home side 19-3.
“It’s disappointing when you play so well,” Vermes said. “You expect when you’re coming into somebody else’s place that they’re going to drive the game. But we came here and drove the game today. It’s not just possession. We were in and around their box for I don’t know how much of the game. They had three shots on goal.
"We were all over them, again, away from home, so from an effort perspective, I’m disappointed for the players, because of everything they put in -- and then for the game to go the way it did, based on the decisions.”
