Osvaldo Alonso suspended one game

Osvaldo Alonso has been suspended one match and fined an undisclosed amount of money, the MLS Disciplinary Committee formally announced on Tuesday. Reports had surfaced late Monday that this was something in the offing.

In issuing the punishment, the DC said Alonso 83rd minute kick of Felipe Martins constituted "violent conduct that endangered the safety of an opponent." While it does appear as though Alonso was at least making an attempt on the ball -- something that probably kept him from being shown a card in the match -- his kick comes a full second after the whistle had been blown.

While hardly ideal, the suspension comes at a time when Alonso is probably due some rest. After missing the first three games of the season while recovering from offseason surgery, Alonso has played all but a handful of minutes in the 10 matches since. Alonso is coming off a particularly arduous stretch in which he played 270 minutes over a span of nine days.

The most likely Alonso replacement is Micheal Azira, who got the starts in the first three matches of the season when the Sounders went 1-1-1. Depending on the health of Gonzalo Pineda, it also likely clears the way for at least one of Andy Rose or Cristian Roldan to receive their third consecutive start.