Abdoulie Mansally made his first appearance in Dynamo Orange on Saturday night in Vancouver, coming on as a substitute for Andrew Wenger in the 58th minute. Nineteen minutes into his debut, Mansally’s night took a turn for the worst when he took a boot to the face from Whitecaps FC midfielder Matias Laba (VIDEO).
Laba received a yellow card for the foul, but remains eligible to play this weekend when Vancouver hosts the LA Galaxy. And while Mansally felt no ill effects in the immediate aftermath of the incident, he was diagnosed with concussion symptoms following the match and was placed in the league’s concussion protocol.
It was the second time in the first four games that a Dynamo player suffered a concussion from a dangerous collision, and in both cases the offending player avoided league discipline for the play. Speaking after Tuesday’s training session, Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle said that the imbalance in the after-effects of those collisions is aggravating.
“The one [players] that missed today was Abdoulie Mansally, because he got a concussion from the kick to the head from Laba,” Coyle said. “Mansally now has to go through the concussion protocol, which is of paramount importance to us. The welfare and well-being of the player is most important to us, but my point is I’ve now had two players with concussions and nobody has been punished for it.”
Cristian Maidana suffered his concussion after a violent collision in which FC Dallas defender Maynor Figueroa plowed through the Argentine from behind, causing a deep cut on Maidana’s forehead that put him out of the match after just 39 minutes.
Like Laba, Figueroa received a yellow card for the foul, but the Honduran international started and played 90 minutes for FC Dallas the following weekend in a 2-0 win over the Montreal Impact.
“I find that frustrating as well, because Maidana missed the game at New York, and we only had him for one full session before Vancouver and couldn’t get the full duration of the match out of him. I’m hopeful to build him up and have him available for the duration against Seattle,” Coyle said.
With player discipline decisions out of his hand, though, Coyle is turning his focus on getting his roster healthy and fit in time for the team's return to BBVA Compass Stadium on April 10 against Sounders FC (2:45 p.m. CT; TICKETS).
