New York Red Bulls' Sacha Kljestan fined by MLS Disciplinary Committee for laying hands on LA Galaxy's Joao Pedro

On Wednesday, May 17, the MLS Disciplinary Committee announced it had fined New York Red Bulls captain Sacha Kljestan for an incident observed during the 55th minute of RBNY's 3-1 loss to LA Galaxy on May 14.

Kljestan's foul on Joao Pedro was deemed a "violation of the league's policy regarding hands to the face, head, or neck of an opponent" - a policy that is clearly and not unreasonably "don't put hands on the face, head or neck of an opponent".

Kljestan's fine is the extent of the Disciplinary Committee's action on the matter. His availability for his team's match against Toronto FC on May 19 is not affected.

The Red Bulls' rough-and-tumble style of play has attracted its share of referee attention so far this season: the team was 9th in the Eastern Conference Disciplinary Points table (which means only two teams in the East had worse disciplinary records) at the time of its last update (April 20). Of the 20 players to appear in MLS for RBNY so far this season, 16 have drawn at least one yellow card.

A team like RBNY that plays an aggressive counter-pressing game is likely to concede a lot of fouls. RBNY's 2017 disciplinary record is currently not all that different from its 2016 record, when 17 payers drew at least one yellow card.

Of course, Kljestan's tangle with Joao Pedro cannot be characterized as part of any pressing scheme. The captain will hopefully keep his hands to himself in future.