Depending on who you ask, the Seattle Sounders were either lucky to escape Wednesday night’s game with a 1-1 tie or cursed for not leaving with a 2-1 victory.
At the core of the debate was a controversial no-goal that would have tied the score in the 84th minute. There’s no perfect angle of the play, but this is probably the best one:
Haters will say it didn't cross the line... pic.twitter.com/5LvTX3deF8
— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) August 25, 2016
Even slowed down it’s hard to see, but there’s clearly a bit of daylight between the ball and the goal. Of course, a ball is round and it’s entirely possible for the curvature to give an imprecise view — the entire ball has to be over the line, after all, not just part of it.
That’s where our friends at Soccer Photogrammetry come in, and they aren’t even 100 percent sure.
So... best first guess in #SEAvHOU goalline situation is no-goal by 3/4". But model far from perfect! Def w/in MoE pic.twitter.com/7NWFNxi0ci
— SoccerPhotogrammetry (@OffsideModeling) August 25, 2016
Based on this view, it’s at the very least understandable why the assistant referee didn’t raise his flag and why the head official didn’t award a goal. Even if MLS had implemented the kind of replay that’s being tested, it’s possible this wouldn’t have been counted as a goal. Really, the only way we’d know for sure is if MLS was using the kind of Goal Line Technology currently being used in places like the Premier League and World Cup.
In other words, given the current constraints, this was hardly a travesty. The Sounders got their point, it’s probably best to move on.
UPDATE: For those of you who want to continue arguing ... it looks like it may have crossed the line, although by a very small margin.
Alright, #SEAvHOU goalline take 2. Thanks to new img by @JeremiahOshan, model now says goal by 1.75". Still w/in MoE pic.twitter.com/nTlxb7yXf1
— SoccerPhotogrammetry (@OffsideModeling) August 26, 2016