You're not gonna like this. Nobody here will. But that top gif, taken from the BTS video, puts the ref in a better light.
I've never heard anybody say this -- announcer, analyst, coach, official, player -- but the rule that getting ball does not prevent a foul is, at best, haphazardly recognized inside the box.   I've seen it over and over. A defender gets the ball, and sweeps the attacker's feet, and no foul is called on plays that are fouls 95% of the time anywhere else.  Until I saw the BTS video, I didn't think Kappelhoff got any ball.  But he did.  You can see it here too.  Ref can still call a foul, and sometimes they do. The inconsistency is frustrating. It's also weird that you never hear an anyone say this. And you can argue a foul should be a foul whether or not it's inside the box.  But this is the way games are called, at least a substantial part of the time, and not just in MLS.