Major League Soccer announced Thursday that they have suspended two players from Saturday's Seattle Sounders FC-Colorado Rapids match.
Chad Marshall, Seattle's first-choice center back, will have to sit out Sounders' contest with Portland Timbers after being given a yellow card for an illegal slide tackle on Colorado's Vicente Sanchez. Marshall slid cleat-first and sent Sanchez sprawling into the pitch in the 13th minute of the game. In addition to the one-game ban, Marshall was also doled out an undisclosed fine for his conduct against Colorado.
This Seattle-Portland match will be a very important one for both sides, as Sounders and Timbers have a historic rivalry full of feelings deeper than hate, and now Sounders will be without their key defender. We'll see how Seattle deals with this loss, as they kick off at 9:30 ET against Portland on Sunday night.
Another player from the match between Sounders FC and Rapids, Marcelo Sarvas, has been given distinct punishment by MLS. Sarvas was handed a two-game suspension on Thursday, after he stomped on the crotch of Sounders forward Clint Dempsey. Sarvas was not called for a foul or booking in that 40th minute play of the Sounders' 3-1 victory, but the game was stopped soon after, when Dempsey stayed down and was attended to for medical treatment. The crotch stomp came during a time in the game in which Dempsey and Sarvas were going at each other verbally and physically, as Dempsey was also hit in the head by a Sarvas strike and then responded by started a heated exchange of words.
Sarvas will pay for his violent and unnecessary conduct, as he will not only have to sit out Colorado's next two matches, but will also have to pay an undisclosed sum as a fine. This crotch shot may have been retribution for Dempsey's groin shot against Mark Bloom of Toronto FC in 2014.
MLS announced two other disciplinary actions Thursday, a warning for New England Revolution's Charlie Davies and a 1-game ban for Josh Saunders of New York City FC.