Whew… that must have been everyone’s reaction to Sunday’s NWSL Matchday 6 clash between the Portland Thorns and Racing Louisville. Both sides shared the spoils in a 3-3 thriller — a six-goal spectacle packed with drama. What more could fans have asked for? However, it seems the dust didn’t settle even after the final whistle. Thorns’ Jessie Fleming and Louisville’s Ary Borges have now taken center stage, not only to war with words against each other, but also to take a subtle jab at the referees.

There was no love lost between the teams in this match. Surprisingly, referee Corbyn May awarded an NWSL-record 41 fouls throughout the 90-minute mark. Yet, he managed to write only one name in his book, issuing a yellow card to Portland’s Reyna Reyes, before showing a red card to Borges for arguing post-full time. That’s not all, as the game also saw Corbyn signal not once but twice to the spot in favor of the Thorns.

Since then, the aftermath has been nothing short of high drama, with frustration continuing to boil over as players and coaches from both teams voiced their complaints. The first one to hit the panic button was the home side’s midfielder, Jessie Fleming. Commenting on the game in the post-match presser, she said, “I think, in general, reflecting our performance, we played into their hands a little bit and kind of dug ourselves a hole.”

“That match can’t keep happening in the league, I think it’s embarrassing,” added the Canadian, insisting such situations alter the sport. Further expressing the frustration on behalf of all the players, Fleming praised her team for being able to make a comeback at their home ground, denying the away side from leaving with three more points.

Notably, it was Racing Louisville that broke the deadlock inside 10 minutes after the kick-off, courtesy of Savannah DeMelo. While the home side quickly responded with Reilyn Turner scoring a bullet header, the Lavenders poured water on the hopes of the Thorns. Kayla Fischer and Emma Sears tripled their side’s lead. Just when everyone thought the goal fiesta was about to end for the first half, the Thorns were given its first golden opportunity with a first kick from the spot.

Fortunately, Jessie Fleming made no mistake, making the score 2-3 in injury time to end the first half. In the next 45 minutes, Louisville managed to deny the host scoring opportunities, until the referee awarded a second penalty of the night to Thorns. This time, it was rather Jayden Lee Perry who stepped up to net the crucial kick from the 12-yard spot and level the score. But before either side could think of producing magic, it was full-time, leaving both sides with an equally bitter aftertaste.

Then again, Jessie couldn’t get over the poor officiating, bluntly taking a dig at the league’s stakeholders. Labeling the clash as the most frustrating match of her career, Fleming added, “I think the league needs to look at that closely,” before ending with a subtle jab at her arch-rivals: “I think Louisville should be embarrassed.”

While this is quite a bold statement from Fleming, it certainly didn’t sit well in the eyes of a rival player, who took a sly dig at the Canucks star.

NWSL urged to reflect on ‘shameful’ refereeing

After full-time, Racing Louisville forward Ary Borges decided to confront referee Corbyn May over his poor calls during the game. That evidently didn’t work out with the official, who didn’t think twice about taking out a straight red from his pocket and showing it to the Brazilian superstar. It only ended up ensuing more drama, but Borges was quick enough to take responsibility on her part.

She took to Instagram and shared a lengthy note on her stories. “First, I would like to apologize for the red card at the end of the match, l ended up getting carried away by the emotional side at the moment,” began the 25-year-old before vocally calling out NWSL and its referees.

“I’m not much of talking about referees because they are things that are beyond our control but what happened today in the match was a shame. At the level of this league, it is not acceptable to have someone commanding a match like it was today,” added the Louisville attacker.

When it seemed Ary’s rant was about to end, she fired shots at Jessie Fleming over her comments after the game. “For those who had two questionable penalties and spent the whole game throwing themselves in and around the penalty box, please take a moment to reflect and not talk about my team,” concluded Borges.

Burn alert! Indeed, quite a hot and spicy atmosphere even though the match has ended. Then again, the talking point remains over the questionable referring. Let’s see what the NWSL stakeholders have to say on the same.