Following the Columbus Crew’s 1-1 draw at home against New York City FC on Saturday night, head coach Wilfried Nancy spoke at the podium for nearly 11 minutes, answering questions about the game. A significant portion of that time was devoted to the officiating in what can only be described as a controversial match.

“I’m going to stop talking about the referee,” Nancy said

Nancy said after 10 minutes and 45 seconds. The press conference then ended because, put simply, the officiating was the story of the game.

Certainly, the play on the field needs to be discussed. The way an offensively-challenged NYCFC was able to continue to break down a backline that has played well, resulting in 15 shots for the visitors, is concerning. The Crew’s resiliency to fight back and get a draw in second-half stoppage time was a major positive.

But the narrative coming out of the game was the performance of the center official, Sergii Boiko. A veteran of UEFA Champions League and World Cup qualifying matches, Boiko struggled to maintain control of the game from the start. After giving out a yellow card for time wasting to City goalkeeper Luis Barraza after 13 minutes – when he could have given it to a number of the visiting players starting roughly five minutes into the match – Boiko handed out 10 more cautions, as well as three red cards.

Seven of those yellow cards and all three ejections went the way of the home team, including one to Nancy in the 87th minute, who is known for his mild manner on the sideline. Nancy’s red card was for entering the field of play, which he did after Boiko signaled a play on instead of whistling for a foul.

It wasn’t the play that finally pushed Nancy over the edge, but an accumulation of calls and no-calls by Boiko.

“I can talk and talk and talk a lot about what happened tonight because, for me, this is the first red card (of my career),” Nancy said postgame. “And usually, all the leagues, I know the referees, they know me that I respect their job. I know that this is not easy to do this job. But the fact that I lost my mind is because it was – wow, I have no words. I have no words in terms of miscommunication, mistakes in terms of the calls. And we could have scored but many, many mistakes.”

The list of debatable calls is long. The highlights include two penalty kick shouts by the home team, one for a handball in the 18-yard box and another after wing back Yaw Yeboah appeared to be pulled down while running in on goal, neither of which Boiko went to the monitor to review. In fact, the only time Boiko did go and look at the screen pitchside, he made the walk across the field to show a red card to a member of the Columbus staff.

City was whistled for eight fouls in the game, to the Crew’s 14, but the 20,533 fans at Lower.com Field screamed out for many more after tackles that went uncalled. The Nordecke began counting the time on the visitors’ set pieces, begging Boiko to issue more cards for time wasting that started early. Perhaps he didn’t hear them, but no cards were issued after the early caution to Barraza. Boiko allowed NYCFC to play the perfect away performance, disrupting the game with rough tackles and wasting time without punishment.

The major flair moment occurred in the 68th minute when the Black & Gold’s star forward Cucho Hernandez was issued a second yellow card for what Nancy said was described to him as a reckless challenge. While trying to collect the ball with his back to goal, Hernandez’s foot came up high while going for the ball, and City center back Maxime Chanot stuck his head out to try and clear the ball.

Upon a second review, it appears that Hernandez actually gets the ball, which then catches Chanot in the face. But the defender dropped to the ground, holding his face, and Boiko issued a second yellow card, ejecting Hernandez from the game and requiring Columbus to play a man down for the remainder of the match.

“He told me it was reckless,” Nancy said when asked for the official’s interpretation of the play. “And for me, honestly, he wants to play the ball. Clear one. He’s not able to see the guy. This is not about…” This is when the head coach elected to say no more about the refereeing.

There was no review of Hernandez’s card by Boiko, something that VAR can suggest in this case because it is a match-changing moment. It’s possible it wouldn’t have mattered, as Boiko seemed pretty confident in his decision, particularly after Hernandez earned his first yellow card for expressing his opinion on the referee’s first-half performance before heading into the locker room. High boots happen frequently in soccer. Rarely do they result in a card, especially when that leads to a dismissal.

The accumulation of these calls by Boiko was ultimately too much for Nancy.

“I have emotions like everybody but I am able to control that when this is the moment,” the head coach said. “But on that one, it was difficult because it was a gut emotion like this and to get a red card like this is because something happened. It was not possible for me to control that.”

The head coach was proud of his team for fighting through the adversity and keeping their heads in the game. While a point at home against a team below the MLS Cup playoff line is not the desired result, the Black & Gold extend their unbeaten streak to eight games.

“We talk a lot about values with the group, with the team,” Nancy said. “We do this job, we are professional athletes, but also, like I like to tell them, there is also a human being behind that. And tonight, I had a lot of emotions because I do this job to win, yes, but I do also this job to see the team in the stadium with a big solidarity, with a lot of things they cannot control in terms of what happened with the referee, but they stay focused on the task and they were brave.

“And they gave emotion to the 25,000 people that they are on the stage. And for me, yes, we can talk about the outcome, the 1-1. We could have scored the second one, and I think there was maybe a PK also involved – I’m not sure about that but I think about it. But the players fought. They fought without the ball, but they fought with the ball. Against New York City, a team that is a really good team… So for me, this is something that I knew the players were able to do it and I’m really proud of them.”

Another point keeps the Crew in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, but there will be questions of what could have been had the officiating been handled differently. The Crew can appeal the red cards, but the chance of anything changing is unlikely.

“I trust the league,” Nancy said. “I know that the league is going to watch the game, review the game and they’re going to see what happened.”