Seattle Sounders: 3 Takeaways from Frustrating Tie With Houston Dynamo
By Paul Taylor
2) Alonso’s costly red card
Alonso has enjoyed his finest season yet in a Sounders jersey, with recent talk even suggesting him as an outside candidate for MLS MVP. However, the midfielder acted nothing like an MVP on Wednesday night, with one moment of madness.
That moment came in the 64th minute, when he was sent off after an off-the-ball scarp with Will Bruin. If I’m honest, my initial reaction was that referee Drew Fischer should have given a yellow or red card to BOTH players.
However, upon reviewing the reply, I realized Alonso was more in the wrong – you just can’t go making contact with an opponent’s face. Who knows how the game could have turned out if he stayed on the pitch, with the added problem of him now missing the crucial game against FC Dallas.
Speaking about the incident after the game, interim head coach Brian Schmetzer said: “The frustration [with Ozzie] was the same that I had with Brad [Evans]…Now, what I want from him and Brad and the rest of the team is that this stops, because we can’t afford to shoot ourselves in the foot anymore.”