Did Jakob Glesnes get away with a red in Columbus?

Jakob Glesnes having a penalty overturned by video review in the Philadelphia Union’s season opener in Columbus last week was a major turning point in what ended up being a scoreless draw.

Glesnes was whistled for a foul on Pedro Santos in the 36th minute that was initially ruled a penalty but was overturned after the video review clearly showed that Glesnes made his initial contact with Santos outside the 18.

The question of whether Glesnes was the last man back and therefore in “DOGSO” territory for a red card is one raised by PRO (Professional Referees Organization) in an “Inside Video Review” video published on Saturday.

Greg Barkley, PRO’s Manager of Video Review Operations, says “three considerations for DOGSO are clearly present: distance to goal, directions towards goal and position of other defenders.”

“The referee and the VAR felt that the consideration of likelihood of control was still in question because the ball was bouncing after Santos had played the ball with his head,” Barkley said. “PRO would have preferred a red card once the penalty kick was changed to a direct free kick.”

Instead, Glesnes got a yellow card, the Union picked up a clean sheet and a point on the road and the Norwegian started at center back on Saturday night back in Chester.