Should Andrew Farrell Have Seen Red?

Things went from bad to worse for the New England Revolution when Andrew Farrell was shown a straight red for pulling down Cristian Techera in the penalty box in the 29th minute of Saturday’s game. The foul reduced the Revs to nine men and gave the Vancouver Whitecaps a 2-0 lead after Octavio Rivera finished the ensuing spot kick.

Andrew Farrell given a straight red card (PK) for this. What a joke. #NEvVAN #MLS pic.twitter.com/z5NGnAxytX

— Ben Jata (@Ben_Jata) June 28, 2015

Referee Allen Chapman’s judgement came under scrutiny, as most calls do. Advocates said that Farrell clearly grabbed Techera while nay-sayers claimed that midfielder went down easy.

For me, pointing to the spot was a bit harsh since Techera was touched lightly and the alleged infraction happened outside of the box. That said, Farrell needs to be smarter as most attackers are trained to go down easy with contact.

The whole play was reminiscent of Jose Goncalves’ "foul" on Dom Dwyer that led to a penalty kick. Interestingly the man in the middle that night was also Chapman.

So what do you think? Was the PK call against Farrell right or wrong? Vote in the poll or write a comment below.