Coaches spar over kicking accusation

If Atlanta United and the New York Red Bulls meet in the MLS playoffs there will be some extra juice to the game, after the opposing coaches engaged in verbal sparring following Sunday’s 0-0 draw at Red Bull Arena.

New York coach Jesse Marsch accused some of Atlanta United’s players of kicking his players and some on the bench of encouraging them to do so.

“It was a little bit shaky in the start, but once we cranked things up, we took over the game,” he said. “And the shame is that, you know they just decided they wanted to kick us almost every time, referee doesn’t want to hand out yellows, so they are allowed to kick him more.”

Later, Marsch said, “Their bench is yelling to kick our guys from the bench, OK. So Martino is yelling in Spanish to kick our players.”

Atlanta United manager Gerardo Martino said “absolutely not” when asked if he or his assistants were yelling instructions that involved kicking Red Bulls players.

Atlanta United Technical Director Carlos Bocanegra backed up Martino: “It was a competitive game and the players showed intensity on both sides. No instruction came from coach Martino or his staff to intentionally cause injury.”

Back to Marsch: “I understand that it’s a good team and they are the darlings of the league right now, but I don’t think that you should be able to come into a place and behave in that manner and not to have some kind of recourse.”

Two Atlanta United players did receive yellow cards in the second half: Yamil Asad after a very hard tackle in the 61st minute, and Leandro Gonzalez Pirez near the end of the game.