Nashville SC ended up with just one point against the Houston Dynamo in their first-ever meeting on Saturday, as the game finished 1-1 after Maynor Figueroa's equalizer in the 89th minute.
However, if it weren't for a toenail, Nashville head coach Gary Smith believes that his side could have taken an early lead — and consequently won the match.
Although Houston bossed the game in almost every metric, from possession to shots on target to passing accuracy, it is easy to see how the scoreline may have been different had a Nashville goal in the 33rd minute stood. Jalil Anibaba sent the ball flying from the right flank to the center of the pitch, where it fell in front of Daniel Rios. The forward slid to connect with the ball, sending it slowly moving past Dynamo goalkeeper Marko Maric. However, the flag was raised for offside before the ball made it to the back of the net.
"It's a really difficult one," said Smith after the match. "I've only seen the camera angle on the jumbo screen out in the field and I've got to say when the ball is played — we're talking about extremely fine lines. I can only assume that whoever is in the VAR position has got a better angle and has made the right choice. I'm bitterly disappointed having seen it on the jumbo screen.
"...I find it disappointing that somebody could score a goal and have their big toenail just offside and we cancel it out. I'm not sure that's the way we want the game to go either."
You can listen to Smith's full quote on the play below.
