Sounders defender Chad Marshall said Thursday he’s glad his team took up the fight on his behalf to overturn a red card he had no idea what he did to deserve.
“I certainly didn’t go into the challenge looking to hurt anyone,’’ he said of Saturday’s tackle of Sporting Kansas City forward Johnny Russell.
A three-man independent panel consisting of a representative from the United States Soccer Federation, another from the Canadian Soccer Association and a third nominated by the Professional Referee Organization this week unanimously overturned the ruling after a Sounders appeal. Part of the Sounders case included forwarding to the panel a Seattle Times story from Saturday’s match in which referee Baldomero Toledo explained why he’d ejected Marshall after a video review of the 77thminute incident.