The New England Revolution looked to be on the verge of picking up yet another win in 2023. The Columbus Crew had other ideas, snatching a last-gasp equalizer to send the home crowd into raptures. There was controversy left, right and centre and Bruce Arena fumes in a way only he can.
Bruce Arena Fumes Following Draw with Columbus
Refereeing Decisions Leave the Revs Dumbfounded
The Revolution didn’t give Patrick Schulte a moment’s rest in the Columbus goal as they peppered him at both ends. This pressure eventually paid off but it was a player in yellow who beat the young American. Australian defender Milos Degenek got caught out by a Dylan Borrero cross and couldn’t stop himself from gifting the lead to the visitors.
Talking of Borrero and he was involved in a few of the highly controversial moments. More on that later but in the meantime, attention has to turn to the Crew’s equalizer. VAR was at the heart of the drama on Saturday night and was hugely responsible for the Bruce Arena fumes.
98th MINUTE MAGIC FROM @zawadzki_sean 😱#Crew96 | 1-1 pic.twitter.com/1no2G1KU7M
— The Crew (@ColumbusCrew) April 16, 2023
Substitute Sean Zawadzki netted his first goal of the season and only his second ever in Major League Soccer to rescue a point for the side from Ohio. He entered the game at the death in the place of Darlington Nagbe and despite there only being five added minutes, the clock read 90+8.
VAR came to the fore prior to that though when a possible handball against Andrew Farrell was being investigated. The decision may have gone in favour of the Revs but Arena still wasn’t best pleased. “If they’re going to use their phony baloney standard of clear and obvious why would it take that long to decide it’s not a foul? It was obviously not clear and obvious if it takes you that long to come to that conclusion.”
Read More: The Revolution Blow CF Montreal Out of the Water at Gillette Stadium
What was the ‘Young, Immature’ Borrero Thinking?
Dylan Borrero became the second Revs man to see red this past weekend since Andrew Farrell way back in July 2022. His first yellow was given for dissent and then less than ten minutes later, the referee went to his pocket again. This time, the young Colombian was punished for a rash tackle on Columbus’ Mo Farsi.
Bruce Arena fumes about the officiating is how the headline reads but he wasn’t best pleased by his winger either. Arena labelled Borrero as “a young, immature player” before going on to paint the referee with a similar brush. A strong message was sent to the 21-year-old in the following words: “ [he] has to grow up. He’s still a young player. He has to mature.”
Here are the two yellows that Dylan Borrero got. First one was in the 56th minute (dissent). Second came in the 65th (foul).
Thoughts? #NERevs pic.twitter.com/CKgXLrfoEN
— Seth (@SethMan31) April 16, 2023
Overall, Coach Arena wasn’t best pleased with what transpired at Lower.Com Field. As well as Borrero, the referees got a bit of a panning too. “I think the game management by the officiating crew and the VAR at the end was very poor. They scored, on my watch, in the 98th minute. So, I’m disappointed with all of that. That simple.”
Djordje Petrovic made a couple of strong saves, denying Lucas Zelarayan whenever he got a sniff of a chance. Dropping points in that fashion is a hammer blow but Columbus are a solid side and so this isn’t a bad result all. Next weekend, Sporting Kansas City will visit Gillette Stadium for a battle of two MLS originals.
Featured image credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports, taken Apr 15, 2023.
