Scott French writes that Los Angeles midfielder Dema Kovalenko is the fiercest (opponents might say dirtiest) tackler in MLS, and he was goingto kick shins and keep kicking shins until referee Ricardo Salazar finally produced a yellow card — in the 65th minute of the Galaxy’s 1-0 first-leg playoff win over Seattle.
Salazar had several conversations with the Galaxy defensive midfielder before he finally cautioned Kovalenko. By then he and the Galaxy had forced the Sounders — looking to play fluid,passing soccer on the slick, quick artificial turf — completely off their game.
“I think they thought they’d have an easy game,” Kovalenko said. “You know,[Osvaldo] Alonso likes to get the ball and spray and this and that, but not today, my friend. Not today.”
Sounders coach Sigi Schmiddeclined to talk about the brutality — “The refs are the refs,” he offered — but he had a word with Salazar. Kovalenko said, “This guy went to the referee and said I should be out of thegame. I heard him saying it, you know what I mean? … So I told [Schmid] something, too, you know what I mean?”