While Alejandro Bedoya said he’s not concerned about consecutive home defeats at Subaru Park, usually a “fortress” for the Philadelphia Union, the veteran midfielder is hoping a 2-0 defeat to NYCFC will serve as a wake-up call, especially for midfielder Jose Martinez, who’s 16th-minute sending off changed the face of the game Saturday night.
“He plays on the border sometimes and he’s just got to be smarter,” Beodya said. “That’s unacceptable what happened tonight.”
Union coach Jim Curtin took umbrage with referee Ismail Elfath for not sending off NYCFC midfielder Maxi Moralez for a foul against Jamiro Monteiro he thought should have been a second yellow card for the playmaker.
But he had no issue with El Brujo's sending off, calling the blow to the head area of NYCFC forward Taty Castellanos “a blatant red card.”
“Jose really let his team down tonight,” Curtin said.
The red card, and subsequent suspension for Martinez comes on the heels of a one-game ban in the Concacaf Champions League for yellow card accumulation, which means he'll miss the pivotal second leg against Atlanta United Tuesday (8 pm ET | FS1, TUDN).
“It was out of line by Jose and we’ll have to try and improve his behavior on the field because we're not the same team without him, to be honest,” Curtin said. “The red cards and suspensions are starting to add up to where it’s detrimental to the group.”
Curtin said he planned to have a “firm and hard conversation” with the defensive midfielder Sunday.
“Biggest thing is he let his teammates down and made them have to run around for 80-plus minutes, including the extra time. Really sad,” Curtin said. “Look, he's a great kid, he wears his heart on his sleeve, he’s passionate, and he wants to win, but there is a balance between being professional, being smart, knowing that he's a guy that I can tell you every referee knows is right on that edge and is going to ref him differently.”
