Sporting Kansas City's defensive issues just got worse ahead of Sunday's game against the New York Red Bulls. Today the MLS Disciplinary Committee announced that starting right back, Igor Juliao was suspended for one game and fined for his actions in KC's 2-1 loss to Philadelphia.
In the 55th minute, Juliao cleared a ball up field just in front of Philadelphia forward, Andrew Wenger. Juliao followed through on his kick, which didn't appear to be necessary and his cleats went into Wenger's midsection. The Disciplinary Committee stated that he "endangered the safety of his opponent," leading to the suspension.
It'll leave Kansas City with limited options against the Red Bulls. If Matt Besler is available, Peter Vermes could choose to play Kevin Ellis there, even though he's spent most of the season at center back. The other option, especially if Besler is still unavailable would be for Vermes to slide Jacob Peterson back to right back again. Peterson has played the outside back position for Kansas City a couple times already this year so it wouldn't be a shock move for him. Another option would be to put Sal Zizzo there, as he played there with the Portland Timbers. But based on Vermes use of him this year, that seems unlikely.
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