CARSON, Calif. – Oscar Sorto looked quite good in his first MLS start, good enough to get another look when the LA Galaxy return to the field this week.
He won't be available Wednesday night against Real Salt Lake at StubHub Center (10:30 pm ET; MLS LIVE), thanks to an end-of-game red card in last week's last-minute victory over Houston – a call that incensed some within the team – but with three outside backs still on the mend, they might need him Sunday night at New England (7 pm ET; Fox Sports 1).
Bruce Arena might have to give Baggio Husidic another go at left back against RSL. He got the call in the 4-0 loss nine days ago at Orlando City, winning praise from the head coach as “one of our only players that had a solid game.”
Robbie Rogers (Achilles) and Todd Dunivant (leg), the Galaxy's top two left backs, were running on the side during Monday's training session, but A.J. DeLaGarza, who can play on either side or in the middle, hasn't been seen outside in nearly a week. He's been bothered by a preseason foot injury, and Arena on Monday said he was also dealing with a groin issue.
Husidic's experience was preferred in Florida over Sorto, a US Under-23 international who is most comfortable at right back, but the 20-year-old Homegrown defender made something of a statement with his play against the Dynamo in just his second career MLS outing.
“I thought he had a great game,” said Alan Gordon, who scored LA's stoppage-time winner. “He stepped in and played like a veteran. I love seeing young guys step in and play with confidence, and he sure did that.”
Sorto didn't quite make it to the finish. Referee Ismail Elfath sent him off after he fouled Houston defender David Horst as they chased a ball rolling out of LA's box following a Dynamo corner kick. Elfath had the yellow card in his hand, then showed red to Sorto.
Galaxy captain Robbie Keane was angered by the decision and said it capped what had been a “poor” performance by Elfath marked by some “very, very strange” decisions.
“Oscar, poor kid, it's his [first] start, he had a great game, the referee was standing right beside him and could clearly see that it's a yellow card ...,” Keane said afterward. “It definitely wasn't a red card, so whoever makes the decision to rescind [such cards], if they don't rescind this, it's an absolute embarrassment. There's no way that kid deserved to get sent off.”
Sorto said he thought he “touched the ball first, and then [Horst] just came, he just crashed into me, and then he just flopped.”
Dynamo coach Owen Coyle said it was a clear penalty, but Arena on Monday said he'd viewed pictures of the play, and “if there was contact initiated, it was outside the penalty area.”
Arena on Friday said he thought Elfath “could certainly give a yellow card on that play,” and Keane said Coyle, an old friend, told him that the red card was excessive.
The Galaxy did not appeal the decision.
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“I don't know the reasons behind that,” Keane said Monday, “but I think the league should just appeal anyway on behalf of us, because it's a joke. We shouldn't even have to appeal, because we know it wasn't a red card.”
The expulsion couldn't spoil an emotional night for Sorto, who was ecstatic to play, and play well, after “waiting two years to start for Bruce's lineup.”
“I was just 'whatever' about [the red card],” Sorto said. “I just accepted the decision and walked away from the field with my head up. I was a bit mad, but it's all over.”
The long walk to the locker room, he said, “was actually like a proud walk, because everyone [in the stands] was just screaming my name. I didn't know what to do. I just waved my hand.”
