FRISCO, Texas — Things did not go Herculez Gomez’s way on Sunday.
The Seattle Sounders midfielder had a goal controversially disallowed and committed a foul that led to FC Dallas’ first goal in FCD’s 2-1 comeback win at Toyota Stadium, prolonging the Sounders’ postseason drama one more week.
In the 33rd minute, Gomez tapped in an easy ball from close range which would have given the Sounders the lead. But referee Mark Geiger whistled for a foul by Roman Torres on FCD goalkeeper Chris Seitz, which negated the play much to Gomez’s discontent.
“It’s a legit goal,” Gomez said. “Their players run into their ‘keeper, ball pops up, it’s on the line for me, I finish it. It should be 1-0 us, and [Geiger] calls a foul on Roman. Unfortunately, it’s what he saw. It’s what he thinks he saw.”
Gomez was involved in more controversy in the 78th minute when he was called for a foul on FCD defender Ryan Hollingshead on the edge of the 18-yard-box. The foul lead to a free kick from Mauro Diaz and a subsequent equalizer from Maximiliano Urrutti in the 79th.
The Sounders eventually gave up the winning goal in the 89th minute to veteran Carlos Ruiz, but it was the foul on Gomez that stood out as a symbol of what the Sounders veteran considered an inconsistent day from one of the league’s most respected referees.
“It’s soft,” Gomez said of the foul call. “I put my hand on [Hollingshead] and he took a dive and they called a foul against me. That’s what frustrates me the most about these officials. I don’t mind if they’re bad, I can handle that. Just be consistent. Be bad for both teams.”
Sunday’s loss was not the first time Geiger figured into a loss for the Sounders this season. He awarded two penalty kicks to the Vancouver Whitecaps in their 2-1 win over the Sounders on March 19.
“Give us an opportunity to adapt to you,” Gomez said of the referees. “And when you don’t, and you’re all over the place and you’re erratic like that, guys get on edge, emotions come out. This is our livelihood.
“It’s a very difficult job, I understand,” he continued. “I thought it was a very soft foul regardless, but he called it. We needed to do better on the set piece.”
