Real Salt Lake Vs. Seattle Sounders Live, MLS Cup Playoffs 2011: Osvaldo Alonso Should Be Off

Osvaldo Alonso had a tremendous regular season. There aren't enough ways to describe just how good he was, bossing the center of the pitch for the Seattle Sounders and garnering some well-deserved MVP consideration. That Alonso has been missing in this playoff match though. He's been downright horrid, giving the ball away with regularity and finding himself out of position. Add in some missed tackles and you have an all-around awful match for Alonso, but it almost got worse. He was almost sent off just after his team went down 2-0, or to be more accurate, he should have been sent off.

Alvaro Saborio had just scored his second to put Real Salt Lake up 2-0. It was a bit of a stunner to the Sounders, who came into the match with plenty of confidence, but that's not excuse for what Alonso did. Right after the ensuing kick off he found himself a Salt Lake player, and half grabbed, half pushed him in the throat. Had Mark Geiger known what was going on, he'd have sent Alonso off, but instead Alonso just saw yellow. He's lucky to still be on the pitch, but that's about the only thing that's gone well for him today. It's been a shocker.