Saturday night saw another chaotic edition of NWSL After Dark with a 0-0 draw between Angel City FC and the Houston Dash.
The scoreless result was largely down to a series of big saves from Dash keeper Jane Campbell, including a huge save from a corner in the final minute of stoppage time. But despite Campbell’s heroics, the clean sheet was controversial, with Angel City’s players confident the goal had crossed the line.
In the NWSL, the entire ball must cross the goal line to be considered “in”. Therefore, the referee team did not consider it a goal, even after extensive VAR review.
But other angles of the ball appear to show it going between Campbell’s legs and crossing the line quite clearly.
#HOUvLA If you look at the camera behind the goal, there are two moments where it looks like the ball has gone completely over the line…
But unfortunately, from behind my keyboard, it’s quite easy to watch the replay 20 times and find specific moments pic.twitter.com/5ApAE60h5H
— Taylor Vincent (@tayvincent6) June 16, 2024
After the game, head coach Becki Tweed remained silent on the issue. Complaining about the referees in the NWSL usually results in a hefty fine from the league; For example, San Diego Wave coach Casey Stoney was fined several times last season for criticism of his performance.
“I’m not going to comment because I think I’ll get myself into trouble,” Tweed told The Sporting Tribune’s Kamran Nia. “I have my feelings and my thoughts and I’m sure you can see them on the sidelines, and I’m just going to keep them to myself.”
#AngelCityFC head coach Becki Tweed:
“I’m not going to comment because I think I’m going to get myself into trouble. I have my feelings and my thoughts and I’m sure you can see them on the sidelines, and I’m just going to keep them to myself.” myself.” https://t.co/7bVfvlkwvO
— Kamran Nia (@kamran_nia) June 16, 2024
Defenders MA Vignola and Jasmyne Spencer were slightly more outspoken than their coach, although they did not go so far as to explicitly disagree with the referees.
“That was one that we all thought was a goal as a team,” Vignola said. “All in all, as a collective we thought these would be the three points we needed, but that turned out not to be the case.”
Spencer noted that the league currently does not have goal-line technology – a tool used in most European leagues and all international competitions.
“I think this is a great example of why we need continued investment in the league so that we can look to things like goal-line technology to make better decisions at those times,” Spencer said.
The tie puts Angel City in 11th place in the NWSL with 12 points, while Houston is in 10th place with 13.
PRO, the referees’ association, typically looks at the week’s video reviews for both the NWSL and MLS, meaning a verdict on the no-goal will likely be in the coming days.
