HOUSTON – A lapse in discipline will cost Bobby Boswell more than originally thought.
The Houston Dynamo center back was shown a red card for his headbutt on New England Revolution forward Dimitry Imbongo, who received a red as well for his part in the fracas, during a 37th-minute free kick in Saturday’s 2-0 loss.
That headbutt initially cost Boswell the final 60 minutes and his team's upcoming game versus Sporting Kansas City (3:30 pm ET Sunday, NBCSN, live chat on MLSsoccer.com).
But the MLS Disciplinary Committee has apparently added an extra game, according to Boswell, meaning he must spend two games off the pitch and pay a fine for his transgression.
Houston Dynamo 0, New England Revolution 2 | MLS Match Recap
“It was a pretty dumb play on my part,” Boswell told MLSsoccer.com. “You do something stupid, you’re going to pay the price. If you put yourself in front of a Disciplinary Committee that usually means you’ve done something wrong and I’m not going to argue with that.”
A formal announcement on a suspension is expected from Major League Soccer later Tuesday or Wednesday.
The suspension means Boswell will miss games at Sporting KC and the Columbus Crew. After that, the Dynamo’s next game is June 19 at Montreal, which means a monthlong absence from MLS play, though he could feature in Houston's US Open Cup campaign, which kicks off May 28.
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Boswell has steered clear of these types of incidents throughout his career. The center back has been in the league eight years and, while never shying away from a challenge and chance to nudge an opponent, has not developed a reputaiton as a dirty player. Saturday night, however, Boswell let his temper get the best of him as he and Imbongo were locked in a physical duel throughout their 37 minutes on the pitch.
On the play that cost him, Imbongo looked to deliver an elbow to Boswell and his retaliatory headbutt landed him on the Disciplinary Committee’s docket.
“In hindsight I wish I would’ve handled it differently, but it’s one of those where, if you keep taking shots, at what point do you get fed up and put a stop to it?” Boswell said. “I look at it in terms of, you’ve got kids watching the game and it’s a bad example and it’s a bad role model. I learned my lesson … I hurt the team and that’s the worst thing about the whole thing.”
READ: Houston disappointed with loss to Revolution: "Just a disjointed effort"
The impact of Boswell’s suspension could be exacerbated by Jermaine Taylor’s injury. According to head coach Dominic Kinnear, Taylor popped his shoulder out during the game. Kinnear said that Taylor wasn’t day to day, but that it was not considered a long-term injury.
“We don’t know yet,” Kinnear said about the center back position. “We do have an idea but it’s only Tuesday and the game’s Sunday. Eric [Brunner] is a center back so he can play in there and the other guy we’ll see. It could be Jermaine or it could be someone else.”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
