FRISCO, Texas – Real Salt Lake midfielder Javier Morales says he’s not convinced he was deserving a second yellow card in Saturday’s 2-1 loss to FC Dallas in the first leg at Pizza Hut Park.
Referee Kevin Stott punished Morales with his second caution in the 69th minute after his high leg caught FCD midfielder Dax McCarty in the head. But Morales has a different perspective on the play.
“When I’m bringing down the ball, he [McCarty] came running in, I had my leg high and he hit my leg,” Morales said. “When I saw the referee coming to me with the yellow, there was nothing I could do but leave the field. That’s it.”
WATCH: Morales red carded vs. FCD
RSL manager Jason Kreis said that the referees explained to him that the first yellow card only 20 minutes before was an automatic after Morales and FC Dallas captain Daniel Hernandez exchanged slaps in the face.
And so for the second consecutive postseason, Morales has to dramatically bow out of the playoff spotlight. In 2009 an injury early in the MLS Cup final forced him to abandon the championship match in tears.
This time it is a red card — the first for a Real Salt Lake player in all competitions in 2010. But the emotions are running high for the 30-year-old veteran.
“I feel bad for what happened,” Morales said. “I’m not doing well deep inside. But I look at my teammates and they are confident. I think that we can win.”
READ: Ejection makes life difficult for RSL
After failing once again to secure a positive result in Dallas, the defending champions are now faced with making up a one-goal deficit in the aggregate goal series next Saturday without their leading assist man.
RSL has a 2-2-1 record in the five league matches Morales did not start this year.
“It’s tough — he’s our best player” midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. “But it has happened this year ,and we’ll just have to do it Saturday.”
“Certainly it will hurt,” Kreis said. “He’s a very, very important player for us, but we’ve had him out for a stretch early this season and got results without him as well. So we believe in what we’ve built here in this group and next week shouldn’t be any different.”
