Marco Fabian misses penalty, sees red card in Philly's loss to KC
Marco Fabian became one of the biggest signings of the MLS offseason when he inked a deal with the Philadelphia Union this winter, but so far the Mexican World Cup veteran’s tenure in America’s top league is off to a rocky start.
A week after tussling with longtime U.S. national team captain Michael Bradley in a 3-1, season-opening home loss to Toronto FC, Fabian was issued a straight red card in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat in Kansas City.
The incident in question occurred in the 58th minute. Initially, it appeared that Scottish midfielder Johnny Russell had fouled Fabian just outside his own penalty area.
But the video assistant referee quickly alerted center ref Chris Penso to a more serious infraction. Indeed, replays showed that Fabian stomped on Russell’s midsection as he landed:
Another replay of the red card to Marco Fabián.
Painful one for Johnny Russell.#SKCvPHI #MLS #VAR 📺🔴 pic.twitter.com/sjoorxq9XR— Joga Bonito USA (@Jasoninho10) March 10, 2019
Before he was sent to the showers inside Children’s Mercy Park, Fabian missed a penalty just before halftime that would’ve sent the teams into the break knotted at a goal apiece:
41' Not so fast, my friend! @TimMelia28 stones Fabian! #SKCvPHI 1-0 #ForGloryForCity pic.twitter.com/P6CpBUJhQK
— Sporting KC (@SportingKC) March 10, 2019
According to noted soccer stats guru Paul Carr, it marked the first time in six seasons that an MLS player missed a spot kick and got sent off in the same game:
Marco Fabián is the first player with a straight red card and a missed penalty in the same @MLS game since Édgar Mejía for Chivas USA (RIP) in 2013.
— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) March 10, 2019
Fabian, 29, signed with Philly after scoring eight goals in 44 Bundesliga games with Eintracht Frankfurt from 2014-19. He has 42 caps for Mexico, and represented El Tri at the 2014 and 2018 World Cups.
Doug McIntyre covers soccer for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
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