Danny Musovski was suspended one additional game after bumping the official in Wednesday’s Leagues Cup quarterfinal, meaning he’ll be out for the remainder of the tournament. Musovski was already due to miss the semifinal against the LA Galaxy while serving his red-card suspension, but the Leagues Cup Disciplinary Committee tacked on an extra game. Musovski will be available for Sunday’s MLS regular season game against Sporting KC.
Prior to his red card, Musovski had been growing increasingly agitated with what he seemed to perceive as some poor officiating by Juan Gabriel Calderon. The play that finally sent Musovski over the edge came in the 77th minute when he was dribbling into the box, but got his hand into the face of Club Puebla’s Nicolas Diaz. Calderon called the foul and then showed Musovski a yellow. Musovski sprang up from the ground, took a couple of steps and then bumped Calderon chest-to-chest.
“Everyone was getting agitated,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said during the press conference when asked about Musovski’s visible frustrations. “The referee wasn’t great. Everyone was on edge. [Musovski] doesn’t need to go over the edge.
“I had a private conversation with Danny and that’s going to stop.”
Musovski’s absence means the Sounders will likely be missing their top two scorers for these games, as Albert Rusnák has not yet resumed training after suffering a hamstring injury. Osaze De Rosario, who was signed from the Tacoma Defiance in May, is effectively the default starter. De Rosario has three goals in about 320 minutes with the first team. He has 10 more goals in about 1,025 minutes with Tacoma Defiance.
