Football
Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondent 7y

New York City FC's David Villa cleared for second leg vs. Toronto FC

The MLS Disciplinary Committee has decided not to suspend NYCFC forward David Villa for last weekend's incident involving Toronto FC midfielder Armando Cooper on Sunday, meaning he will be free to participate in the second leg of his team's Eastern Conference semifinal, according to a league spokesperson.

Villa, a World Cup winner with Spain, appeared to kick out at Cooper after the pair clashed 20 minutes into Sunday's first leg at BMO Field.

Neither player was shown a yellow card by referee Silviu Petrescu following the sequence, though Petrescu did caution Cooper for fouling Villa shortly afterwards on a separate play. Toronto eventually won the match 2-0.

"For me, it was pretty blatant," said TFC manager Greg Vanney, after the match. "I saw it from the second it happened, I've seen a replay of it again. It's just not something that is acceptable really in the league."

The MLS spokesperson indicated that since Petrescu saw the incident in question, and decided not to sanction Villa.

As such, a suspension would only take place if the league's five-person Disciplinary Committee could unanimously agree on two criteria. The first is that the incident should have resulted in a red card. The second, that Villa's actions were so egregious that the committee needed to issue a suspension in the name of player safety.

The spokesman confirmed that while the first criteria was met, the second was not, so Villa will be allowed to play this weekend.

Villa was NYCFC's leading scorer during the regular season with 23 goals. He is also a finalist for the league's MVP award.

The second leg against Toronto is set for Sunday, Nov. 6, at Yankee Stadium.

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