Just a few minutes into tonight's match against the Colorado Rapids, Seattle Sounders winger Steve Zakuani was taken down with a completely rash challenge by Brian Mullan. The injury itself was horrific, and the snap of Zakuani's leg could be heard clearly on the replay. While we don't want to speculate, it appears Zakuani suffered some sort of fracture.
Zakuani was immediately attended to on the field as he stayed down in clear pain. Trainers rushed to his side and his leg was immobilized in an air cast before the stretcher came out to take him off the field. The reaction of the players and coaches near him made it clear the situation was serious and many were forced to turn away.
Mullen was shown a straight red card -- completely deserved -- for the challenge, putting Colorado down to 10 men for the rest of the match. With Zakuani down and out, Alvaro Fernandez came on for the Sounders as Sigi Schmid was forced to head to his bench early. For the Sounders, the start couldn't have gone much worse as it appears Zakuani may be out for a significant amount of time with a serious leg injury.
We'll be back with more on his injury as it becomes available, but it looks like a serious situation. Stay with this StoryStream for the latest or head over to SB Nation's Sounder At Heart.