SANDY, Utah — Real Salt Lake head coach Jason Kreis wasn’t touching the controversial ending following his team’s disappointing 1-1 result against D.C. United on Saturday night.
How did he feel about the controversial penalty call on Charlie Davies in the 85th minute?
“No comment,” he said, instead choosing to praise his team’s effort in the first half of the match.
Chris Wingert, however, was outspoken about the penalty whistled against him as he slid to make the play on the breaking Davies inside the six-yard box five minutes from time.
“Wait until you guys see it,” said the defender of his tackle. “It wasn’t even close.”
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According to Wingert, he wasn’t actually sliding to make the tackle, but was instead just trying to get his body in between Davies and the goal.
“I was almost more sliding to block the shot, thinking he was going to shoot it, and he just kicked it away and then jumped over,” he said. “It’s almost laughable. I don’t know what to say.”
Wingert also said Davies admitted the call was a bit fortunate.
“Charlie’s a friend of mine,” he said. “We even roomed together at national team camp. He even looked at me and was kind of smiling. He knew. He said, ‘That’s football.’ That’s what he told me.”
To add insult to injury, Wingert tweaked his hamstring on the break that led to the penalty.
“I didn’t rip it, so I was still able to run back,” recalled the veteran defender. “But to come out afterwards — it was a hell of a play for me.”
For Wingert and his teammates, however, RSL’s third straight game without a win was a disappointment, especially given the controversial ending.
“It feels like a loss,” said Kyle Beckerman. “We lost some points. It’s a bit disappointing.”
Despite the frustrations with the critical call, Real Salt Lake also accepted responsibility for the result to come down to that one play.
“You definitely don’t want to give something up on your own free kick,” said Beckerman, referring to the play that led to the counterattack, and ultimately the equalizing penalty kick.
“The game was there for us to win, and we didn’t put it away,” he added. “We’ve just got to keep working hard, and get more dangerous.”
