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A scuffle in Saturday's 2-0 win for Seattle Sounders over LA Galaxy could see Real Salt Lake the unlikely benefactors of disciplinary committee action, as two Galaxy players should be facing suspensions for at least the first leg of the Western Conference semifinal.
Marcelo Sarvas threw a punch at Seattle's Gonzalo Pineda, and Dan Gargan threw one himself at Osvaldo Alonso. Gargan was on a yellow card but was not shown any discipline, while Sarvas received a yellow card for his missed punch.
It violates more than the 'hands to the face' rule that MLS likes to selectively apply. This, more deservingly of disciplinary review, violates violent conduct rules — under no circumstance is punching other players encouraged or allowed, and that only a yellow card was shown between the two of them is a bit surprising.
Some praised it as "letting them play" (we're looking at you, Amobi Okugo,) but the fighting (which rarely involves actual punches thrown, and so gets a bit of novelty to it) absolutely deserves retroactive action.
But will it happen?