Let's pretend you're a supporter of Major League Soccer Team "X," and your club is playing against MLS Team "Y" in a conference final or US Open Cup semifinal matchup. Ninety minutes is not enough to decide a victor, nor is the additional 30 minutes of extra time. To a penalty shootout we go, then.
The score in the shootout is level, 2-2, when up steps Team Y's third penalty-taker. He shoots, the ball caroms off the post, trickles down the goal line, hits the goalkeeper's arm as he's getting back to his feet – thinking the shot has been missed – and rolls over the line.
That's a goal, folks.
The referee, though, inexplicably disallows the goal and it's counted as a missed spot kick. Team X goes on to win the shootout, 6-5, and the disallowed goal is the difference. You might feel bad, but you'd take the win and look towards for the final, right?
Well, that's exactly what happened in one semifinal of the women's French Cup between Olympique Lyon and Montpellier. The spot kick of Montpellier's Rumi Utsugi is the shot in question, and it ultimately cost her side a place in the final. To boot, it wasn't even her first attempt ruled out by the referee; she was made to re-take her first shot – also a converted penalty kick – after the ball was deemed to have moved during the run up. Lyon went on to win the shootout, and adavance, 6-5.
Hold on, though, because it gets better. Lyon – current club team of US women's national team midfielder Megan Rapinoe – have offered to replay the entire game against Montpellier, citing fair play and a positive relationship between the two women's clubs.
The obvious question is this: if your MLS team offered to replay a semifinal or otherwise important game in a likewise situation, would you by okay with it? Or would you be unhappy and demand the result be honored?
