Columbus Crew coach Wilfried Nancy questioned the validity of Malte Amundsen's missed penalty in the Champions Cup loss to Club América after the referee allowed the attempt to stand despite goalkeeper Luis Ángel Malagón being off the goal line.
“The referee did a good job during the penalty by telling the players that they have to put the ball on the line, that the goalkeepers don't have the right to move,” Nancy said.
“He was very good at that. But when Malte took the penalty, the goalkeeper was not on the line. And the referee said that, sorry, I'm laughing because the referee said that it didn't affect the shot.”
“He could have asked for rules to be established that say they can't move, they can't touch the crossbar, the ball, that the ball has to be put in the right place. OK, no problem. But when there is an obvious penalty to be awarded and the goalkeeper is in front of him, he said that the penalty was not affected, the shots did not affect the goal.”
With no interception from Malagón, Amundsen's shot hit the crossbar and bounced off the goal, ending in a missed attempt.
According to the rules of the competition, “if the ball does not touch the goal or rebounds off the crossbar or the goalposts, the kick will only be retaken if the goalkeeper's foul clearly hit the kicker.”
Although the Crew fell 1-1 (4-5) to America on Wednesday night at Lower.com Field, Nancy continued to call the experience a lesson.
“We lost the game. I told them that when we won the MLS Cup, we learned from that. And we lost the Concacaf Champions Cup final in Pachuca. We learned from that, too. So at the end of the day, the fact that we win or lose, it teaches us. And for me that was the message. And the message also for them was to tell them that I was proud of them. And we need two or three days to move on and we're already doing that.”
Columbus returns to action on Saturday night when it visits D.C. United at Audi Field, before hosting Inter Miami next Wednesday in Ohio. The Crew currently sits third in the Eastern Conference standings with 56 points through 29 games.
Mathematically, the Crew is one of three teams that can compete with Inter Miami for the Supporters' Shield. While Miami could clinch the title with eight points from its final four games, a loss to Columbus combined with other results could allow the Crew to win the title.
The Crew previously won the 2023 MLS Cup and the 2024 League Cup.
