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Report: Villa will not face suspension for second leg against TFC

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Already down, 2-0, to Toronto FC after the first leg of their Eastern Conference semifinal, New York City FC can breathe a sigh of relief after avoiding further bad news.

According to Sports Illustrated, star forward and captain David Villa will reportedly not face a suspension from the MLS Disciplinary Committee for his kick to the back of Toronto FC midfielder Armando Cooper. The DisCo was reportedly unanimous that Villa’s kick deserved a red card. However, the vote was not unanimous when deciding on if the offense was an egregious danger to player safety.

Villa lashed out with his right leg on the way to the ground in an incident that also involved an elbow from Cooper in the other direction. There was a brief tussle on the field between players from each club, but ultimately no action was taken by referree Silviu Petrescu.

The news clears Villa to take part in the second leg of the tie, with NYCFC down two goals and needing a minimum of two to keep their hopes alive in their first playoff run.

The second match takes place at 6:30 P.M. on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

Comments

  1. The Once a Metro blog did an excellent job covering the hypocrisy of this decision, pointing out the player who was kicked here was already suspended this season – for the same action. doh.

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  2. am i the only one who didnt see anything in it? like, he didnt wind up and whack the guy, he was off balance and his leg MAYBE made contact with cooper, and cooper rolled 4 or 5 times. contact? probably. violence/intent to injure? no way in my mind. to me, if this was a non DP and they DID suspend him, THAT would be the joke…not to mention how petulant TFC looks lobbying to the league that it should be a suspension….

    let’s put this to bed already.

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  3. If that’s a Non DP, you bet he’d be suspended without exception, they’d be clamoring all over themselves declaring unpardonable sin. Jesse Marsch was right, and they castigated him for calling it out – some players are more equal than others in this league, and even then, a smaller subset is even more untouchables. How does the DisCo confirm unanimous clear red, but the ref sees it happen right in front of him and does absolutely nothing? Too many disputable calls in MLS to dispel the thought these refs are told not to lean on certain players as harshly. What a hypocritical joke.

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  4. MLS was never going to suspend a former Spanish International, Barcelona and now Designated Player that is competing in the playoffs in a league that is clamoring for respect as a major sport in the states and viewership in a tough market.

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