The New York Red Bulls took a second-half lead over rivals NYCFC in Sunday's Hudson River Derby with a quick, heads-up play from a throw-in. Sounds simple enough, right?
Think again.
NYCFC were immediately incensed as Danny Royer headed in his second goal of the game, the go-ahead goal after they had equalized with a late first-half penalty:
The source of their frustrations? They were adamant that the preceding play should have been whistled as a corner kick, rather than the throw-in that the Red Bulls took that led to the goal.
In the previous sequence, NYCFC's Alex Callens, under pressure from a Red Bulls attacker deep in his own half, blasted a clearance high out of bounds, and near-side assistant Corey Rockwell appeared to signal for a corner kick. However, the Red Bulls quickly took the throw-in as NYCFC appeared to be setting up for a corner kick, and scored two passes later.
Despite the visitors' furious protests, referee Alan Kelly upheld the goal, with FS1 broadcaster JP Dellacamera relaying later in the game that they had been told Kelly overruled Rockwell's call of a corner kick, changing it to a throw-in.
UPDATE: Following the game, the refereeing crew confirmed to the designated pool reporter that Kelly had overruled the assistant referee's call because he "was in a better position to judge that the ball went out for a throw-in" and that he had "indicated verbally that the restart was a throw-in."