BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. – There have certainly been no shortage of opinions on Gilberto’s disallowed goal Saturday that would have given Toronto FC a 2-1 comeback victory over the Chicago Fire.
Even the man who directly benefited from the call, which allowed Chicago to escape with a 1-1 draw, was very blunt in his assessment.
“It looked like a goal to me,” Fire head coach Frank Yallop said.
Toronto midfielder Michael Bradley and head coach Greg Vanney both voiced their disgust at the controversial decision by referee David Gantar to rule out the Brazilian’s goal because of a push on Bakary Soumare.
Bradley said Gantar’s call was “just not good enough.”
Yallop insisted immediately after the game that he hadn’t seen a replay of the injury-time incident, but he was typically honest and forthright in his view of it three days later.
“I thought it was a goal, but it doesn’t matter now, it’s gone,” Yallop told reporters before training on Tuesday. “It looked like a goal to me, and I would have been gutted if it was against us, if we would have scored.”
Another significant talking point of Saturday’s 1-1 draw was the second-half penalty miss by captain Jeff Larentowicz, who saw his effort saved by TFC goalkeeper Joe Bendik. It reopened the debate about who should take spot kicks for the Fire.
Larentowicz has proven his mettle by converting two from the spot already this year, in draws at Portland and at home to LA. And with PK regular Mike Magee out for the season, Yallop is happy to let the players decide who will take the next one – if there is one.
“We might not get another one, but usually you’ve got to leave it up to the players,” Yallop said. “They’re the ones that feel it, they’re the ones that have to take them. If someone’s confident, you leave it up to them.
“If you miss a couple in a row it’s tough, but Jeff has scored two and missed one. It was a good strike and a good save, and if you stick the rebound in it doesn’t really matter. But we had two bites at it and didn’t score, which would have made a difference in the game.”
New signing Florent Sinama-Pongolle is expected to return to training tomorrow after meeting with immigration officials in France on Monday, and Yallop expects him to be available for Saturday’s visit to Toyota Park of Eastern Conference pacesetters D.C. United.
“He’s got his passport, he comes back tomorrow and we expect him to be OK for the weekend,” said Yallop, who also expects fellow striker Robert Earnshaw to return from injury.
