In the midst of D.C. United’s loss to the Portland Timbers, a play occurred that led to the 4th and final goal that we wanted to vent about, specifically Jeremy Ebobisse’s challenge on Steve Birnbaum:
So, let’s put aside the nature of whether or not Ebobisse’s challenge was dirty (I don’t think it was). Let’s go to Mark Geiger, two-time MLS referee of the year, and some wider coverage of Geiger both at and after the challenge on Birnbaum, starting at the right edge of the screen:
That’s about 20-25 yards that Geiger covers, 3-4 seconds after Birnbaum hits the ground.