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.

It’s been a recurring theme so far for the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2012.

Scoring chances gone begging combined with defensive mistakes that enable its opponents to find the back net have been a nasty habit for the Galaxy in this young season, and the New York Red Bulls were the latest recipient of the Galaxy’s sudden misfortune on Saturday. A first-half goal from Joel Lindpere combined with an efficient bunker-down defense enabled the Red Bulls, minus Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez and many others, to collect a 1-0 win over the Galaxy at the Home Depot Center.

“It’s been kind of a broken record,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said of the Galaxy’s lack of finishing so far this season. “Throughout 90 minutes, there were certainly enough chances to at least get a point or win the game.”

With the three points, the Red Bulls thrusted themselves into the thick of the Eastern Conference race, as they sit in third place, two point shy of D.C. United and five short of Sporting Kansas City, who were upset 2-0 by the Montreal Impact. Meanwhile, the Galaxy continue to languish at near the bottom of the Western Conference standings, as they currently stand in seventh place in the conference.

“It’s little things and little adjustments, and we gotta keep working on it, but by no means are we giving up,” Galaxy left back Todd Dunivant said.

The Galaxy had a golden opportunity to score in the 13th minute when a long ball by Sean Franklin sprung Robbie Keane for goal. Keane chipped keeper Ryan Meara, but Markus Holgerson managed to clear the ball at the goal line. Once again, a missed chance came back to haunt LA, this time in the 19th minute, as Jun Gunnar Solli played a perfect ball to Joel Lindpere in the penalty area and the Estonian did the rest, beating keeper Bill Gaudette far post to put New York in front.

The Red Bulls didn’t do much attacking after the Lindpere goal, instead, opting to absorb the pressure that LA was sure to bring while waiting for counterattack opportunities. LA’s first chance at an equalizer came in the 37th minute when a David Beckham free kick went over an outstretched Edson Buddle, but found its way to Robbie Keane, Keane tried to get the ball to Buddle inside the six, but Buddle, on the ground, couldn’t fully control the ball and New York eventually cleared out the danger.

LA continued to create the chances in the second half, but Meara simply refused to let anything past the goal line. Meara’s first save of the second half was relatively easy, as Mike Magee blasted a 22 yarder at the top of the box, Meara stopped the shot, spilled the ball though Brandon Barklage did clear the ball out of the box. Meara’s next two saves were huge, such as a patented long-range attempt outside the 18 by Juninho in the 82nd minute, but Meara’s left hand redirected the ball over the crossbar, which was then followed by a point-blank denial of Landon Donovan four minutes later. The Galaxy had one last shot at an equalizer in stoppage time, as a cross by Chad Barrett into the box was chipped by a Red Bulls player, but it went to Beckham, but his volley in the box missed far post.

“The only way I know and the only way this team knows is to keep going,” Donovan said. “It seemed like pretty much everything went against us today.”

The Galaxy will try to right the ship next Saturday, as they make their first visit to Montreal to face the Impact, while the Red Bulls return home to face the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday.

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

Down by one goal heading into stoppage time, another loss filled with missed opportunities and defensive mistakes seemed likely for the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday night.

Turns out all they needed was one chance.

In a wild match at the Home Depot Center, it was the battle-tested veteran Pat Noonan that played the role of hero for the Galaxy, as his goal in the 92nd minute helped LA avert what would’ve been another head-scratching loss, and instead, the Galaxy come out of Saturday’s match with FC Dallas with a point courtesy of a 1-1 draw.

“It was a good game,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said. “Both teams played real hard and we getting a goal in extra time can’t be complaining about the point.”

The goal came about when Landon Donovan sent a ball into the FCD penalty area, intended for Adam Cristman, Dallas left back Jair Benitez got his foot on the ball but was unable to clear it out of the 18 and as a result, LA’s Chad Barrett laid a ball back to Noonan, who blasted a point-blank shot from the middle of the 18 that beat FCD keeper Chris Seitz left post for the equalizer which eventually held up.

“I just gave it a shot,” Noonan said of his goal. “Chad laid the ball off perfectly for me and I tried to put it on net.”

Such a outcome seemed unlikely for Los Angeles considering LA was once again plagued by poor finishing, defensive errors that and the absence of starting keeper Josh Saunders, who was out due to personal reasons. Dallas had two opportunities in the first minute alone, but Brek Shea pulled his attempt over the crossbar while Fabian Castillo sent his chance wide right.

Then it was the Galaxy’s turn to create the chances. LA had it’s first chance in the 11th minute, when Robbie Keane played a ball forward, Landon Donovan looked to beat Jair Benitez to the ball, Benitez ended up turning the ball over to Donovan, who raced into the Dallas 18, cirlced Seitz, leaving him with an open net, but instead, Donovan’s attempt hit the near post and went past the endline.

Donovan had another shot in the 43rd minute, but this time, it was Seitz himself that denied him, though rather fortunately. A corner kick by David Beckham was headed into a crowd, the ball stayed alive, Edson Buddle tried to hit it close range but couldn’t get enough on the ball, but fortunately for him, the ball went to Landon Donovan, who quickeld tapped the bal towards goal, but Seitz dove to his left and somehow managed to scoop the ball up just short of the goal line.

“It happens,” David Beckham said of the Galaxy’s inability to finish so far this season. “We’ll get it right. We’ll score goals when we really need to.

A Galaxy goal seemed likely in the 47th minute, as David Beckham played a ball forward to a charging Landon Donovan, who got behind Jair Benitez into the 18, Benitez pushed him down from behind and Salazar signaled to the penalty spot. However, it wasn’t Donovan that stepped up to the penalty spot, but rather Robbie Keane, and while everyone at the HDC had to be surprised at who was a the penalty spot, they were still equally shocked when Keane sent the penalty wide right.

“I just told Robbie I wanted him to take it,” Donovan said of the decision on the penalty. “He (Keane) did everything right, he just mis-hit it a little bit.”

The missed chances eventually came back to haunt the Galaxy. Jair Benitez crossed a ball into the penalty area in the 59th minute, Galaxy Center Back David Junior Lopeswas in position to cut it off, which he did, but rather than clear the ball out of the box, he played it back to keeper Bill Gaudette perhaps unaware that FCD striker Blas Perez was right behind him. Perez alertly made the run, Gaudette tried to get to the ball before Perez could but ended up tripping him and referee Ricardo Salazar whistled for the penalty spot and in the 61st minute, Shea beat Gaudette left post to put Dallas up one.

“I thought we did a fantastic job holding out as long as we did,” FC Dallas coach Schellad Hyndman said.

Saturday’s match was the first appearence between the pipes for Gaudette since 2007, when he was with the Columbus Crew. The veteran keeper had bounced around the USL for years, first with the Brooklyn Knights from 2001 to 2003, then with the Puerto Rico Islanders from 2008-2010. Gaudette spent the 2011 season with the Montreal Impact before signing with the Galaxy in the offseason. Aside from his foul in the box that led to the Brek Shea penalty, Gaudette acquitted himself very well on Saturday night.

“The guys in front of me did a great job tonight battling the whole time,” Gaudette said. “Those guys really killed themselves for 90 minutes.”

Saturday’s match is the start of a busy week for the Galaxy, as they travel to Seattle to face the Sounders at Century Link Field, followed up with a matchup with the New York Red Bulls at home next Saturday.

Galaxy head coach/general manager Bruce Arena has been busy throughout the week.

Arena first acquired 6-3 Center Back David Junior Lopes from  Chivas USA in exchange for midfielder Paolo Cardozoback on April 10, then for Saturday night’s game against the Portland Timbers, he replaced striker Edson Buddle with Chad Barrett and welcomed David Beckham back into the starting lineup after the midfielder had missed last week’s game at Sporting Kansas City with a hamstring injury.

While the start of the match threatened to render those moves moot, as LA surrendered another goals while numerous chances went begging, the outcome was more to their liking. An important goal from Landon Donovan in the final minute was then followed by long range goals from Juninho and David Beckham and the Galaxy averted disaster with a 3-1 come-from-behind win over the Timbers at the Home Depot Center.

“Certainly, a game we needed to win,” Arena said. “Overall, I thought it was a good performance over the 90 minutes. Not perfect, but certainly improved from our previous ones in the MLS season.”

The win avoids a three-game losing streak and puts them at 2-3-0 with six points, though they have some catching up to do in the Western Conference. Portland meanwhile slips to 1-4-1 on the season.

“Overall, our performance was 100 percent better than it has been all season,” Beckham said. “We played as a team, attacked and defended as a team and we deserved the win tonight because it was a tough game.”

Tied at one goal apiece well into the second half, a draw seemed likely, but the Galaxy finally took control of the match starting in the 83rd minute. A cross from Landon Donovan was sent out of the penalty area by Mike Chabala, though not out of danger. Juninho then fought off Darlington Nagbe for possession, turned and gathered himself, then sent a 25-yard volley low which beat Troy Perkins near post to put the Galaxy ahead. LA sealed the win in stoppage time, and the goal came off the foot of David Beckham, as he recieved a ball from Landon Donovan, took a heavy first touch, but he chased down the ball and let loose a howler from about 25 yards out which curled and sailed past Perkins into the upper right corner for his first goal of the season and more importantly, three points for the home team.

The start of the match revealed more of the sme problems that had plagued LA throughout the start of the season, namely poor finishing and suspect marking on defense. LA had numerous chances on the offensive end, but were unable to break through, and Portland got a chance in the 23rd minute when Eric Alexander played a ball for Kris Boyd, who may or may not have been offside, but nevertheless, he sprinted for the 18, then amied right and succeeded, beating Josh Saunders far post to put the Timbers ahead.

The Galaxy got one more chance just before halftime, and they made the most of it. Robie Keane evaded Eric Brunner, charged into the penalty area from the left side, played a ball back towards the 18 and Landon Donovan’s volley beat Troy Perkins right post to give LA an important equalizer just before halftime.

“Even when we were one-nil down, I thought we were playing well,” Beckham said.

Saturday’s game also marked the debut of center back David Junior Lopes, who was acquired just four days earlier and was thrust into the lineup alongside rookie Tommy Meyer after AJ DeLaGarza couldn’t go due to injury. Aside from a mistake that led to Boyd’s goal, Lopes held up pretty well throughout the match and actually almost got on the score sheet, as his header off a Beckham corner in the 73rd minute was cleared at the goal line by Franck Songo’o.

“I came here with the mentality of working hard, and getting the starting spot was a consequence of that,” Lopes said.

The Galaxy will now look to build on this win, as they travel to Colorado to face the Rapids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park next Saturday.

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.

Two weeks was suppose to be enough time for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

A two-week break in MLS action was suppose to allow the Galaxy valuable time to rest some weary legs while at the same time, establish chemistry for the recently-assembled squad and correct some mistakes that had plagued LA in its first four games.

However, after a rainy Saturday night tilt against the New England Revolution, the same mistakes, namely poor marking on defense among other issues, were still evident. Two early goals in the first half, both assisted by midfielder and captain Shalrie Joseph, set the tone for the Revolution’s dominant night at the Home Depot Center. The Revs outplayed the Galaxy for most of the night, and the end result was a 3-1 win over LA.

“We were certainly beat tonight from the opening kickoff,” Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said.

New Enlgand got on the board 10 minutes into the match. Following a quick throw-in, Joseph crossed a ball into the penalty box toKelyn Rowe, who had his initial volley denied by Saunders, but the ball ended up back at his feet and Rowe made the most of the second chance, burying the rebound attempt past Saunders upper net for the first goal of the game. New England wasn’t done yet though. Three minutes after Rowe’s goal, Joseph sprung right back Kevin Alston with a through ball into the 18. Alston’s short cross found the foot of left back Chris Tierney, whose volley beat Saunders near post for a two-goal lead.

“Kelyn Rowe is 5-foot-7, and he’s getting behind our backline on a cross, and the second one, their left back is scoring a goal inside out box. That’s unacceptable,” Galaxy defender AJ DeLaGarza said.

Things apparently were bad enough in the first half that Arena decided that midfielders David Beckham and Marcelo Sarvas would be his first two substitutions during the halftime break.

“If I had 11 substitutions, I would’ve considered that,” Arena said.

The substitutions apparently didn’t have much effect, as New England got its third goal inthe 65th minute when Ryan Guy crossed a ball into the 18 and Saer Sene headed the ball past Saunders near post to pretty much end matters on the night as far as the Revolution was concerned. The Galaxy did pull one back, as Robbie Keane finished a point-blank attempt in the 78th minute, but it turned out to be mere window dressing on a pretty dreary night for LA.

“The issue in the game was that 11 players from New England soundly outplayed 11 players from the Galaxy,” Arena said.

Things won’t get any easier for Los Angeles, as their next game will be against Sporting Kansas City at Livestrong Sporting Park next Saturday afternoon.

Just as the sun began to make an appearance in the gray Spring sky just in time to dip below the Olympic Mountains across Puget Sound, the Seattle Sounders & San Jose Earthquakes were kicking off at CenturyLink Field in front of 38,301 fans.

Seattle looked to be the aggressor early, controlling possession and getting up the flanks. Christian Sivebaek made a memorable long driving run up the right flank punctuated with a heel turn in the box that lost his marker and but his cross could not find a teammate at the other end.

Osvaldo Alonso received a caution in the 6th minute from Referee Mark Kalecik for a reckless tackle on Marvin Chavez that drew nothing but shin. Alonso was a pivotal figure in this match for all of his usual reasons, disrupting play, intercepting passes, challenging for possession, and distribution of the ball unfortunately he drew a lot of attention for his rough play. Servando Carrasco, filling in for Brad Evans, looked a bit lost at times, didn’t contribute a whole lot to the effort and got in the way of Alonso.

Steven Lenhart & Chris Wondolowski were marked ably by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado & Patrick Ianni in the beginning of the first half, two physical strikers with two physical center backs. Lenhart & Wondolowski have victimized Sounders defenses in the past and were up to their old tricks as the game wore on.

11th minute, Alonso crosses the ball into the box for Montero who was centered in front of the six yard box was unable to keep his header below the bar. Sounders best chance of the night came early.

Lenhart, in the 17th minute, did very well to get a touch on a cross from Steven Beitashour near the far post of the goal. Wondolowski was in the box prepared to pounce on any ball knocked back towards goal. Michael Gspurning was able to beat the San Jose striker to the ball, knock it down and cover it up.

Lenhart, 21st minute, abuses Hurtado, out-muscling him. Hurtado loses sight of the ball, attempts an awkward tackle on Lenhart, who stayed on his feet. To his credit, it would have been a likely penalty had he gone down.

22nd minute, Marc Burch trips Steven Lenhart in the box away from the ball before a corner kick. An completely unnecessary foul, albeit a somewhat weak one, there is always the possibility that the referee was making up for the Hurtado tackle a minute earlier. Coach Sigi Schmid thought that Lenhart had initiated contact, there was rampant speculation (in the press box) that it was a make up call for Hurtado’s awkward tackle earlier.

Wondolowski converted the PK easily to make it 1-0 in the 24th minute. It would prove to be all that San Jose needed.

There were a few changes for both sides at the half: Hurtado sustained a pelvic injury and made way for Jeff Parke; Ramrio Corrales, who suffered a harsh foul earlier in the half, for Jason Hernandez.

Sammy Ochoa was brought on for Sivebaek and shifted Estrada to the right wing at the 62nd  minute, there was no noticeable improvement in the offense. Sivebaek was having a quiet half compared to his first half.

Lenhart was subbed off for Alan Gordon in the 67th minute after his outstanding effort in a tactical shift by Frank Yallop to protect the 1-0 lead on the road.

Lenhart and Wondolowski make a very effective strike tandem, physical and opportunistic. The Quakes can score goals, Wondowlowski has been a top scorer for the last couple of seasons in MLS, their problem has been defending. San Jose is a much improved side from last season. Sounders were able to keep possession, create shots, win duels, and win pretty much every statistical category and still come up short. Certainly credit is due to San Jose for their victory, but we have seen Sounders dominate possession, shots, etc. and not be able to put the ball in the net for long stretches of time.

Sounders FC defeated Houston Dynamo 2-0 on Friday in front of over 38,000 fans in Seattle. Continue Reading