The hit that gave Kosuke Kimura a concussion and forced him to leave the New York Red Bulls’ 3-2 win over Sporting Kansas City on a stretcher this past Saturday will also keep him from participating in this weekend’s Eastern Conference showdown with the Columbus Crew.
Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke ruled out Kimura for Saturday’s game at Crew Stadium during a conference call on Tuesday, saying he was “100 percent” sure the 29-year-old defender would not be in uniform due to the heavy hit he took from fullback Seth Sinovic in the waning moments of the win over Sporting KC.
Kimura could miss more than just the upcoming battle with the Crew, too, but it all depends on how quickly he recovers.
“He’s going to be treated by way of the MLS protocol of concussions, which is individual cases and day-to-day,” Petke said. “I will say 100 percent he will not be involved in the Columbus game and I can’t give anything as far as past that because it really has to do with how responds and how his symptoms are.
“It was obviously a pretty vicious knock, he had a perforated eardrum as well, but I’ve seen Kosuke and he’s in good spirits. When something like that happens and a stretcher is brought out on the field, it’s definitely a scary thing. I was a bit taken aback by it but he seems in good spirits and, like I said, it’s going to be a day-to-day thing with him.”
Petke also said that the Red Bulls requested MLS look at the scary incident that left the Red Bulls to see out the win that moved them into first place in the Eastern Conference with 10 men. The MLS Disciplinary Committee, however, ruled against handing out a retroactive suspension to Sinovic.
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“The response we got is that they reviewed it and they saw nothing wrong,” said Petke. “I know the amount of time the Disciplinary Committee put in to look at plays like that, so I respect their decision and we move on.
“I don’t think Sinovic is a dirty player, I don’t think Kansas City is a dirty team. I think they’re a very tough team and they’re a very quality team, so no sour grapes here and no accusing here whatsoever.”
Franco Panizo covers the New York Red Bulls for MLSsoccer.com. He can be reached by e-mail at Franco8813@gmail.com.
