Issue #31 - DOGSO
Reflecting on Whitecaps FC's surprising regular season, their loss against Dallas FC, and why the foul against Sabbi wasn't a red.
Hello!
As I think back to how I was feeling going into the MLS season, I have to recognize that having a shot at first in the West going into the final match to the season is significantly more than I ever expected.
So by that metric, the regular season was an outstanding success.
But the season itself is not over and with how this team has played, I expect big things this post-season.
So c’mon you Whitecaps FC, let’s giv’r to Dallas and show them what domination in all aspects of play is really like.
The View
No sense burying the lede.
The Whitecaps FC lost 2-1 to Dallas FC this weekend, and in doing so, missed out on a chance to lock up first overall in the West (no thanks to Portland who got walked all over).
And while much of the scuttlebutt online leans towards wild conspiracies between Major League Soccer and PRO Referees, Vancouver had plenty of chances to not only tie the game up but potentially score one to take the lead.
They simply ran into a spiteful soccer god, a stretch of bad luck, and a goaltender hotter than lava.
It happens.
Regarding the match itself, Dallas seemed to have a gameplan to challenge the Vancouver backline from the opening whistle with long passes and quick counters.
And this gameplan really came to fruition when Dallas’ Samuel Sarver found himself ahead of play on a well-executed breakout, only to be taken down by Vancouver’s Mathías Laborda.
Initially, referee Allen Chapman issues a caution for stopping a promising attack (think tactical foul) with the belief that DOGSO criteria were not met (explained in Issue #13).
When that yellow went up, I commented to my sister & nephew who sit nearby that Laborda was lucky as it sure looked like DOGSO to me.
After VAR took a long, LONG look, they called Chapman over to the display in only a minute, he too agreed - red card for DOGSO.
11’ into the match and a new type of adversity to test the mettle of the ‘Caps in 2025. And only 7’ later, Dallas had themselves a 1-0 lead.
Lesser Whitecaps FC sides of the past would roll over at this point. Concede they were on the wrong side of some ‘fine lines,” and look ahead to the playoffs.
That’s not this squad.
No, this squad took the match over and stretched Dallas thin.
After that Dallas goal, the Whitecaps FC stepped on the gas. Akin to the style of play we saw in the first few matches, they harassed Dallas into turnovers, distributed the ball down the sides well, and created opportunity after opportunity.
And only 10’ later, Emmanuel Sabbi was hauled down in the Dallas penalty area (more on why this wasn’t DOGSO down below).
A beat or two later, Thomas Müller tied it up on a stellar PK.
With Vancouver maintaining their aggressive posture into the half, it had me wondering… could they actually pull this off?!
Unfortunately not.
One of the issues in starting a makeshift backline and in turn, having to adjust said makeshift backline due to a red card, mistakes will get made. And one did shortly after the start of the second half resulting in Dallas’ second goal.
Vancouver again did not roll over, and did everything they could to try and level it up. We had well hit balls from Berhalter & Cabrera hit the woodwork. We had sure goals from Müller & Elloumi get stopped with miraculous saves from the Dallas keeper.
And at one point, Jesper had one true defender on the backline in an effort to throw everything but the kitchen sink towards a win.
I absolutely loved the effort.
If xG defined the winner, Vancouver won the match - 2-1. Vancouver was dominant in possession, carrying the play 64% of the match despite being down a player for most of it. They even out-shot Dallas, though this statistic was more representative of Dallas doing everything late short of park a bus on the pitch.
They dominated. And again, they did so down a player.
With the loss, Dallas guaranteed themselves a shot at MLS post-season glory. And Vancouver found themselves out of first in the West by tiebreaker (wins in the MLS).
But what this result also meant, when all was said and done, was Dallas gets the opportunity to face Vancouver in the first round.
Vancouver in two.
The Good
Rayan Elloumi. The kid didn’t get as much time as I would’ve liked, but what time he did have in this match was well spent. This kid can play.
Ralph Priso. Look, anytime Ralph gets called in as the “sleeper CB we didn’t know we had,” he’s gonna find himself here in The Good.
Whitecaps FC Supporters. Y’all brought it. Absolutely brought it. The stadium was buzzing the entirety of the match and I hope to hear more of it during a long run in the post-season.
The Not So Good
Mathías Laborda. He had three options in that early challenge and simply chose the wrong one. While we can argue that Belal Halbouni or Yohei Takaoka had a clear opportunity to defend after the challenge, Mathías put his team in an awful spot. That’s completely on him. And making matters worse, he sits out Game 1 against Dallas.
Around the Pitch
So why wasn’t the foul on Sabbi a red card?
As pointed out above, I previously shared the criteria that must be met for a DOGSO call to be made. And I imagine many of you - having gone back and read up - would suggest the criteria were met.
I think it was clear as day that Sabbi had Distance, was headed towards goal (Direction), was past the second-last Defender, and possessed active Control.
So if the four criteria were met, was only a yellow issued and not a red?
Simply put, because the foul resulted in a penalty kick.
Law 12 - the “part of the rules” that governs fouls - provides for a few exceptions to the punishment of DOGSO where only a caution is issued when the foul occurs inside of the penalty area:
Where a player commits an offence against an opponent within their own penalty area which denies an opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity and the referee awards a penalty kick, the offender is cautioned if the offence was an attempt to play the ball or a challenge for the ball
In real-time, and right in front of my seats, I believed the call to be correct. It appeared the Dallas defender made an attempt to challenge Sabbi and simply got it wrong - penalty kick & yellow card.
Having since seen the replay, I’m a little less confident in that assessment yet not to the point I’d consider it a clear & obvious mistake - the criteria VAR would look to meet to call down to the referee.
Watching the replay slowed down, it’s clear the Dallas defender is beat and falls against Sabbi in an effort to stop his attack. There is no clear challenge on the ball - which is not a requirement in the context of the Law itself - and it’s hard to suggest there’s a clear challenge for space.
But going back to what I felt in real-time, and likely what referee Allen Chapman saw in real-time, the initial call was DOGSO resulting in a PK and yellow card - and that call carries significant weight.
I shared last week that I will be taking in the MLS post-season from the comfort of my home.
While the seat is a touch more comfortable, the food & beverages a little more specific to my tastes and significantly cheaper, the atmosphere isn’t quite the same.
So I plan on living vicariously through all y’all who will be there.
Speaking of all y’all planning to be there, I would absolutely love it if you could send me your quick thoughts on the match, as I would love to include them in next week’s issue! Drop ‘em directly to me on Bluesky or shoot them to me via email (from231 AT proton DOT me).
From my seat to your browser!
If you enjoyed this, please consider sharing on social media or forwarding it to someone that you think would love it just as much! ❤️
-Chris (@lyteforce.ca)