US Open Cup 2015: Roger Espinoza did, in fact, punch Brad Davis

Following his team's 3-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City in the US Open Cup quarterfinal, Houston Dynamo head coach Owen Coyle mentioned how he saw Roger Espinoza punch Brad Davis before a Sporting Kansas City set piece. This, he said, was rationale for his belief that both teams should have been down a man after the Dynamo lost Luis Garrido to a first half red card.

Espinoza was not sent off, nor faced consequences of any kind during the match for the punch. He did receive a yellow card for his participation in the elongated argument before the set piece, as did Davis and Matt Besler. Looking at the replay afterwards, however, confirms that Espinoza did put a hand to the face of Brad Davis.

I would assume this is what Houston players/Owen Coyle wanted Espinoza sent off for. #SportingKC #USCO2015 pic.twitter.com/5xBy1UJUVa

— Andy Edwards (@AndyEdMLS) July 22, 2015

A slow-motion look.

And in slow(er)-mo, FWIW. pic.twitter.com/su67k1dLyt

— Andy Edwards (@AndyEdMLS) July 22, 2015

This replay could lead Espinoza to face repercussions from the United States Soccer Federation, who handles the conduct of the US Open Cup. If the USSF deems this to be worthy of a suspension, Sporting Kansas City could be facing a semifinal match with Real Salt Lake without Espinoza.

Although, really, who doesn't want to punch a Dynamo player?