The picture was saved on a Sporting Kansas City player’s iPhone last March and passed around to teammates inside the locker room. It provided the clearest piece of evidence of a missed call — five red FC Dallas shirts tucked behind Sporting Kansas City’s back line but the absence of an offsides flag. The sequence preceded Dallas’ game-winning goal.
It’s one example in a long list of game-changing referee errors over the past couple of seasons. An uncalled handball against Houston. The unpenalized trip of Dom Dwyer in San Jose.
On Sunday, a decisive mistake swung in Sporting KC’s favor.