Seattle Sounders manager Sigi Schmid has accepted that he finds it extremely lucky that Zach Scott managed to last the full 90 minutes despite several calls for a second yellow card. The veteran defender picked up his first yellow card in the 37th minute. His foul on Robbie Keane put him at a precarious position throughout the match. This did not preventScott from changing his tackling style, as the referee had four other opportunities in the second half where he could have given him a second yellow card. This results in a red card and a sending-off.
LA Galaxy managed to win the first leg 1-0, but they were extremely angry with the fact that referee Kevin Scott did not show the second yellow. Unable to defend his player,Schmid admitted that Scott could have been sent off on several occasions. It is the norm for managers to defend their players by saying that they did not see the incident.Schmid feels that he could not escape with such a comment this time around, as Scott was involved in numerous incidents. Referees often try to keep 11 players on the field in order to maintain the spectacle. LA Galaxy captain Landon Donovan said that this appeared to be the case with referee Kevin Scott.
“I thought we benefited a little bit [from Stott’s decisions]. In most games, I think that referee would have pulled that [second] yellow, so I’m not going to pretend I didn’t see that. Yeah, we were fortunate that Zach stayed on the field,” said Schmid. “I was surprised after Scott got the yellow card, that he had, like, five more fouls. I mean, it’s an absolute joke. [They let him stay] because they didn’t want guys to get a red,” said LA Galaxy left back Robbie Rogers.