This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The MLS Disciplinary Committee handed down a one-game suspension to Real Salt Lake striker Luis Silva for what can only be described as a double groin stomp.
The incident in question occurred in the 61st minute of RSL's 1-0 loss to Orlando City Friday.
A challenge from Orlando's José Aja resulted in the center back rolling around on the pitch in pain.
Aja went to the ground as he poked the ball away from Silva and tripped up the RSL striker. As Silva tried to regain his balance, he appeared to step on Aja with his left foot.
Stomp No. 1: Not a suspendable offense.
Then Silva kicked the same foot back and cleated Aja again.
Stomp No. 2: Not so innocent.
RSL was awarded the free kick during the match. Upon review, DisCo doled out the suspension.
Silva will sit out of RSL's match Tuesday at Los Angeles, and Yura Movsisyan will likely start at striker.
Movsisyan, RSL's 29-year-old designated player has been open about his frustrations over decreased playing time.
He has come off the bench in five of Salt Lake's past ten games. Movsisyan leads the team with five goals.
RSL will also be without midfielder Sunday Stephen Tuesday. Sunny received a suspension due to yellow card accumulation.
Defenders Tony Beltran (back) and Demar Phillips (hamstring) will both be available Tuesday, coach Mike Petke said.
Beltran was unable to train for much of last week due to back tightness, which kept him on the bench Friday.
Phillips is returning from an injury sustained on June 3.
"We have two suspensions and some guys coming back off of injury, so it's a bit of a two-steps-forward-one-step-back type thing in this game," Petke said. "Yes I am confident in the players that we're going to put out there to get a result, 100 percent."
— Maddie Lee