Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes has blasted the lack of “respect” shown to his players by referee Marcos de Oliveira during his team’s 0-0 draw against Minnesota United.
Saturday’s meeting was anything but with a number of robust challenges and flash points.
Things were going to get worse for the visitors. The challenge looked high, although Walter also seemed to be trying to back off.
Although the foul occurred well inside the Minnesota half, De Oliveira decided to show Walter a straight red card, with VAR confirming the decision on the field. From there, Loons dominated the match but still could not break down a stubborn SKC defense.
In a statement to reporters after the match, Vermes highlighted the incident as the undoubted turning point and thwarted all plans for his side to leave Allianz Field by three points.
“Up until the point with the red card, I think we had 72% holdings,” he said. “We created good things from home and played really well.”
Vermes then proceeded to Lambast De Oliveira’s decision, accusing Reynoso of having made a meal of Walter’s challenge and the judge of leaning his talks to Minnesota.
He added: “The red card happens and I have had a chance to see it. I see (Remi Walter) will poke (the ball) and he pulls the leg back. The player makes a meal of it and the referee gives I think it’s incredible hard to accept that in the game, when we got the ball, they would foul us in a tactical move, I understand that, but it’s the referee’s job to be the one to handle it.
“Cam Duke went wrong many times in the first 20 minutes of the game and did not even get a call. It blew me away. Four yellow cards and one red (for Sporting) to two yellow cards (for Minnesota). There are things I understand and things I do not understand. If you want to come to the game, I would say that it says a lot about our team to be able to face this challenge week in and week out. “
VIDEO: RED CARD issued to #SportingKC midfielder Remi Walter for the challenge below. (Accidentally deleted first) pic.twitter.com/OsXfXtyNkK
– Jacob Schneider (@_jacobschneider) August 21, 2021
But Vermes did not end there. The 54-year-old then stated his conviction that De Oliveira showed his players a lack of respect, giving Minnesota free kicks for soft challenges while waving games while SKC tried to ride tough challenges with honesty.
“There are some things I can understand and other things I just can’t,” Vermes said. “When I say respect, I speak of respect for the players when they are insulted.
“The fact that guys on my team do not dive and try to fight through tackles and you can not realize it when you call a game? My guys respect the game. He respects the way he plays. He actually respects the referee for not trying to fool him. He’s not trying to get the call, I call it respect.
“I call it a lack of respect when guys in our team run at full speed, get tackled and do not get a call. A guy in the other team comes into the game, our guys chase him down, we have two guys around him fall he down and our guy gets a yellow card. If you want to give it I accept it. But do it for us too. And it does not happen. It’s sad. Time and time again, I hate it.
“The incredible thing is that our team, left and right, is fighting ours. That’s our mentality. They will not be denied. They will work for it. I give them all the respect in the world for that bit.”
Saturday’s stalemate leaves SKC second in the Western Conference, three points behind leaders Seattle Sounders with a home game against Colorado Rapids coming next.
