American Soccer News

In Seattle the anticipation for today’s match had been palpable since Fredy Montero’s scored his brace in Dallas, Real Salt Lake (7-3-2, 23 pts.) and Seattle Sounders FC , winners of five in a row (7-1-1, 22 pts.) would be playing for the top of the Western Conference table.

Andy Rose found himself in the starting role for Brad Evans, who was nursing a hamstring injury. Rose’s debut sparked a minor controversy after a yellow card and a reckless tackle in a matter of moments against FC Dallas. Bryan Meredith looked to continue his debut scoreless streak sitting at 271 minutes and counting.

Bryan Meredith Pulls In A Save

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© 2012 American Soccer News - John Crouch

Real Salt Lake came into Seattle with a game plan typical of visiting sides, defend, look for an opportunity to counter and head to Sea-Tac with a point or three if things fall your way. RSL did not look to get forward and allowed Sounders space on the wings but kept Eddie Johnson and Fredy Montero out of the middle of the box.

Eddie Johnson had the better attempts for his side, although one of his shots may hit the Sergio Ramos penalty kick somewhere around Mars. Johnson had several turnovers from several stepovers around the penalty area that were incredibly wasteful.

RSL appeared more active early in the second half, getting forward. It would be Fabian Espindola who would break the deadlock in the 51st minute on a ball over the top of Jeff Parke from Luis Gil, Adam Johansson may have had a chance to win the ball before Espindola, but he was off-balance when the shot was taken. Coach Jason Kreis mentioned that they were quite fortunate to get a bounce of the turf that confused Adam Johansson and allowed Espindola to score the first MLS goal on Meredith ending his scoreless streak at 322 minutes.

Johnson also picked up a ridiculous card trying to head the ball out of Nick Rimando’s hands in the 53rd minute. Not exactly how a forward should react when the other team just scored. When coach Sigi Schmid mentioned that his forwards were displaying a lack of creativity up top, this out-of-the-box attempt to create a scoring opportunity must not have been on his mind. Eddie Johnson now has four cautions and will miss his next match when he picks up another.

After the goal was scored RSL did not appear to get forward with the same level of urgency after they scored, Seattle once again appeared to have free space up the wings and room to play while RSL kept their shape and composure and left Seattle without allowing a single shot on target from Seattle’s 8 attempts in the match, not to mention 30 crosses and 6 corners taken by the home side.

Kreis mentioned that they were fortunate to get a lucky bounce on Espindola’s goal, Johansson was unlucky that he wasn’t able to prevent the ball from getting to Espindola, and it was a fantastic finish. RSL have picked up six points on the road in their last two matches which is even more impressive considering that they played more matches (13) than any other MLS side to date. and face FC Dallas at Rio Tinto  and Sounders look to get back to their winning ways on the road against Vancouver Whitecaps for their first Cascadian derby of 2012.

39,312 in attendance.

Seattle Sounders (5-1-1, 16pts) put a makeshift lineup on the pitch to face the Philadelphia Union (2-4-1, 7pts). Sounders are fresh off their first home win against LA Galaxy in MLS three days prior and travel to FC Dallas on Wednesday and home against Real Salt Lake on Saturday . Philadelphia has struggled this season, although their Goalkeeper has posted the second longest scoreless streak in MLS this season at 408 minutes from March 25th to April 18th.

Fredy Montero, fresh off his amazing Golazo against Galaxy, was looking to keep a goal scoring streak going. Montero, and Andy Rose both took some long attempts in the first half. Rose in particular puts a lot of heat on the ball and Zac MacMath showed that he had trouble catching those shots out of the air. Montero had a header that sailed somewhat lazily to MacMath in the 19th minute, and a off-balance shot Montero hit as he was falling that needed to be cleared off the line by Raymon Gaddis in the 7th.

There were a couple of dicey moments, Mauro Rosales hit Kai Herdling with his elbow, that appeared to be inadverdent. A real moment of controversy occurred when a caution was given to Andy Rose for a reckless challenge on in the 18th minute and given a stern talking to by Ricardo Salazar for a tackle from behind on Freddy Adu in the 28th minute. It was one of those instances where a previous caution earns you leniency early in the match. Speculatively, the first challenge was less worthy of a card than the second, but Salazar did not wish to have Sounders down to 10 men so early in the match.

At halftime the Philadelphia Union had attempted 6 shots and only got 1 on target compared to 7 and 4 respectively for the Sounders.

No subs at halftime, and it wouldn’t be until Eddie Johnson came on for Andy Rose in the 61st minute that Sounders would awaken offensively. Johnson made his presence felt immediately on a lateral run with the ball found Montero in the middle against his run. Montero managed to curl his shot right into the crossbar with no teammate to follow up the rebound that was lazily collected by the Union defense and headed back to MacMath.

Montero would not be denied two minutes later, when in the 63rd minute, Johnson traps a long ball with his chest, leaves for Montero, who passed the ball across the top of the box to Mauro Rosales who finished the games only goal and sealed Man of the Match status. Eddie Johnson was originally credited with an assist on the play, but was later taken away. It was a very traditional target forward play, something Sounders have been seeking for their entire MLS existence.

In the end the Union only managed on shot on target the entire match. Considering that the Sounders were missing 4 out of 5 defensive regulars (Michael Gspurning, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Zach Scott, or Leo Gonzalez) in the starting lineup the Union offensive output was doubly disappointing.

Attendance 38,399

Nagging injuries, travel, and a Saturday fixture with NY Red Bulls meant that David Beckham and Robbie Keane would not be participating in tonight’s match in against the Sounders in Seattle. Galaxy would start Adam Cristman & Chad Barrett up front to match the physicality of Jeff Parke and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado.

Seattle had two opportunities early that went wide: Brad Evans on a through ball from Zach Scott & Fredy Montero on the opposite side just missed a diving header.

Eddie Johnson showed some real skill with a couple of quick stepovers before shooting with his left foot. Gaudette saved Johnson’s shot & was right in front of Montero’s attempt on the rebound from point blank. For Montero it was the easiest chance to convert an opportunity for a goal this season, but it would not be his last.

The game appeared to show signs of getting out of control when Montero was brought down in the 30th minute. Donovan was demonstrably upset by the call, and made several Ferguson-Mancini talking hand gestures at Sounders players and bench. Both sides felt done wrong by the referee, Galaxy players were upset by what they say as embellishment by several Sounders players. Sounders were equally upset by the rough play through the back of players receiving the ball. Shortly after Marcelo Sarvas is issued a caution for a reckless tackle on Brad Evans 33rd minute and both sides settled down after that.

Adam Cristman made his real impression on the match with a header in the 35th minute. Wide of the mark, he had been marked ably by Jeff Parke and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. It was one of the few times during the first half that LA looked threatening.

40th minute Mauro Rosales on a set piece found Eddie Johnson in the box for a header that would give the home side the lead before halftime.

Gspurning injured his hip during the first half, Bryan Meredith saw his first MLS action since joining the team full-time from Kitsap Pumas. Meredith was called to action, but not truly tested. His first save was a Landon Donovan strike that went straight to his midsection. Halftime statistics showed that the LA Galaxy were on the short end of attempts on goal, shots on target, possession, passes completed, passing accuracy and duels won by a significant margin.

Fredy Montero broke his season-long goal drought in the 48th minute with a spectacular 40 yard strike that curled into the upper left corner past Gaudette at full stretch. Assist to Alonso, amazingly, the Colombian did most of the work creating what is surely a goal of the week candidate.

Galaxy attempted to kick start their offense with Mike Magee coming on for Chad Barrett in the 58th minute and former Sounder Pat Noonan in the 71st. Schmid countered Bruce Arena’s subs with a tactical shift in the 74th minute replacing Mauro Rosales with Marc Burch and Alex Caskey for Johnson. Sounders controlled 56% of possession in the first half, and gave the Galaxy 64% of possession in the second half but only one shot on target that came in the second half and went straight from Donovan’s foot to Meredith capable hands.

Despite the lamentation of fans and journalists alike about the lack of Beckham or Keane the intrigue of why they were left off of the roster the simplest explanation is that there are too many fixtures for an aging team this week and they wanted to focus on getting three points at home. Coincidentally this marked the first time that Sounders have beaten LA in Seattle.

Attendance 39,002

Seattle welcomed Colorado Rapids with an unusually warm sunny spring afternoon. Many fans were ready to roll out the welcome wagon for Brian Mullan, on the condition that Brian Mullan be under the wagon. It is difficult not to think about these two teams without thinking about the horrendous tackle on Steve Zakuani last season, and it is Brian Mullan’s first trip to Seattle since it occurred.

Colorado came out with a 4-3-3 with Omar Cummings, Brian Mullan, and Tony Cascio up front. Conor Casey coincidentally played his last match against Sounders, Colorado commonly played a 4-4-2 when Casey was available. When you start to add these things up and the fact that these two teams are on similar paths to the Western Conference playoffs you get the impression that a rivalry is building.

Fredy Montero found himself with a close opportunity early in the 5th minute that was saved by Matt Pickens, a recurring theme throughout the match. Another good opportunity came on a Alex Caskey cross in the 13th minute that found a wide open Zach Scott who headed the ball just wide.

Leo Gonzales  32nd minute showed good situational awareness that saved a goal. Mullan was offside when Omar Cummings took his shot that Gspurning dropped right to the clearly advantaged Cascio right in front of the net.

Colorado keep their shape exceptionally well, their defensive line stayed organized and kept Seattle’s best chances at a managable distance. Gspurning does not catch the ball out of the air very frequently, he’s usually punching the ball clear and has let a couple of shots rebound to dangerous areas this season.

Halftime statistics showed that Colorado had an advantage in possession, 60% of possession and 286 passes (76.% completed) to Seattle’s 188 (73.4% completed).

Eddie Johnson was booked in the 46th minute for a strikers challenge after turning the ball over to Larentowicz. Another caution was issued to Zach Scott for tugging the shoulder of a Rapids player who was looking to breakaway after a Sounders corner kick.

Brad Evans appeared quite upset with Eddie Johnson for not getting in front of the net to challenge Pickens for a ball that Evans won in the air on a long ball. Johnson had not made an impact on the game at that point and was not challenging for possession of the ball in the danger area.

in the 62nd minute Zach Scott made up for a near miss on a Caskey set piece. On a corner kick, again from Caskey, Scott, on a near post run, finishes to the far post with his head. His first goal, and Caskey’s first assist of his career.

Montero did manage to play a good ball through for Ochoa. It would have been about a 40 yards to the goal, Ochoa was able to control the ball but not make anything positive out of it. Johnson & Ochoa were competent, but neither made much of an impact on the game in terms of creating an opportunity to score.

Montero almost scored again in the 89th minute on a spectacular half-volley that Pickens was able to push over the bar for a corner. Montero was subbed off in the 90th minute for Roger Levesque. Montero will have to be content to sit below Zach Scott on the scoring chart for another week. Although Montero has yet to score, criticism of him directly may be misplaced. Montero appears to be seeking to create for his teammates more than looking for his shot.

The box score at the end of the match was quite revealing, Colorado maintained a 60/40 advantage in possession, made more passes, but came away with 7 fewer corner kicks & run-of-play crosses each,  and only 4 attempts on goal to Seattle’s 18.

38,360 in attendance.

Recent fortunes of these two teams could not be more disparate. Toronto FC is advancing in the CONCACAF Champions League Continue Reading

Following the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final tie, Toronto FC headed into LA with a big task after getting a 2-2 result at home! Having to overcome the 2 away goal deficit or simply winning the match was never going to be easy.

With a slow start to the match Ryan Johnson took advantage of a great chance to give TFC the 1-0 lead in the first half. The second half on the other hand had a different feel, where LA realized they had to rise up to the occasion and started putting plenty of pressure on TFC  leading to an own goal by Harden. TFC was resilient with Ryan Johnson continuing to put his stamp on the game and setting up Nick Soolsma for Toronto’s second goal and the game winner!

Toronto FC’s game flaw consisted of their high back-line that they were lucky not to have LA penetrate. A non fatigued Galaxy side would have punished this Toronto formation. On the other hand, TFC’s defense dealt well with the crosses into the box in this match in comparison to the home tie, with Kocic playing a major role in controlling his box and keeping the ball out of his net.

Man of the Match: Milos Kocic

All in all, a decent Toronto FC performance versus a softer LA Galaxy led to this result. The next round in the semi-finals versus Santos Laguna will be a difficult task especially in the away leg!

Toronto FC will now remain on the road and face Seattle on Saturday before returning home for their MLS home opener which leads into the first leg of their CCL semi-finals.

In what had been hailed as the biggest match in club history, Sounders donned their Super Cyan jerseys and met Santos Laguna for the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals in Seattle.

Sounders fielded the usual suspects  in their staring eleven, with David Estrada filling in Eddie Johnson as Fredy Montero’s strike partner.

Both sides were able to scamper back and forth in the first five minutes, neither side able to muster a shot on goal except for a Rosales strike that went directly at the goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez.

In the 11th minute Fredy Montero crossed a ball into space near the back post for a streaking David Estrada who put his diving header past Sanchez for the opening goal, second assist to Leo Gonzalez. Shortly afterward, Adam Johansson got into the attacking third on an overlapping run to cross for Montero, but the Colombian was unable to collect his balance for a header and the ball deflected off of his shoulder.

19′ Heculez Gomez gets a ball and the top left of the box and tests Gspurning who was unable to gather the ball, but Johansson was closest and able to clear the ball out of bounds for a corner.

Alvaro Fernandez had the play of the night that was nearly a spectacular goal a little give and go with Rosales on the left side. Alvaro got a ball parallel to the top of the box, gave a little dummy like he was going to break for the endline before letting the ball continue to roll setting him up for a curling right footer than went just over the bar.

45′ Juan Pablo Rodriguez tried to flick a header passed Gspurning that landed on top of the goal roof just before the half expired.

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Santos were clearly frustrated by the clever off the ball movement by Sounders, the elbow to Fernandez’s face is probably out of that frustration. Santos did not create an easy goal scoring opportunity. Their balls into the box were searching and hopeful. There were no substitutions for either side at the half.

Santos had a much more positive play than they did in the first half. After having difficulty creating space they were able to open up a few holes in Sounders defense and keep some possession.

52′ long ball to the corner from Rosales finds Estrada, Sanchez coming out to get the ball, crosses into the middle and finds no one.

58′ Leo Gonzalez is cautioned for tripping a player after he had been tripped.

Santos Laguna drew level in the 60′ when Marc Crosas crossed from top left of the box and found Herculez Gomez at the near post who finished his goal to the far post past a diving Gspurning.

Less than a minute after the restart Mauro Rosales crossed a set piece in to Brad Evans who managed to guide the ball home with the back of his head. Evans, not known for his scoring prowess and oft-maligned, had an understated, but competent, performance before scoring what would become the winning goal.

Hurtado was stretchered off late in the match but was able to reenter the match.

There appeared to be several altercations between Santos & Sounders players during the first leg in Seattle. It was consistent throughout the match. It is clear that winning this series and advancing to the semis is of the utmost importance to both clubs. Being down a goal and heading home is not a horrible position to be in.

After the match Sigi Schmid revealed that four starting players, Gspurning, Montero, Alonso, & Kennedy, were stuck in traffic due to a rollover accident in the Mount Baker tunnel on I-90. It wasn’t until 6:30 when all of the players were finally at the ground. Hopefully no one was seriously injured in the accident.

23,433 in attendance tonight.

Sounder FC completed their preseason undefeated by beating Mexican squad Jaguares de Chiapas 2-0 at CenturyLink Field on February 29, 2012.

Chalk up another win for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Only this one wasn’t just for them, Continue Reading

It didn’t feel like one day, or even a whole season was riding on Sunday night’s MLS Cup matchup. Continue Reading