Super Bowl Update

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders are off their best start in franchise history and they will look to continue their hot start tomorrow night on the road against FC Dallas. Last week, the Sounders got their first home win against the LA Galaxy with a 2-0 win and followed it up with a 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Union for their fourth straight win. Tomorrow night, they face a short-handed FC Dallas side who will be without a few of their key players. Last Sunday, Dallas we're reduced to nine players in the first half of their match against the Colorado Rapids. Daniel Hernandez was sent off after picking up two yellow cards and a couple minutes later, Blas Perez who is tied with Brek Shea for the team lead in goals scored with three goals was given a straight red card after his studs caught Drew Moor in the thigh while he was challenging for the ball. So both of them will be out for Dallas and there's also a chance they'll be without Brek Shea as well.

Some people were complaining about the Perez challenge, saying that it was unintentional and shouldn't have been a red card, but for challenges like that, you have to give a red card regardless of whether or not it was intentional. I saw the video of the red card and I believe the referee got the decision right. The law states that "Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play."

In six meetings against FC Dallas, Seattle is 2-1-3. Last time these two met in league play, the Sounders came away with a 1-0 road win at FC Dallas Stadium last August. Unlike last year, Dallas have stuggled to produce so far and are currently stitting on a four match winless streak which has hurt them in the standings in this early part of the season while the Sounders are riding high with a four game winning streak and are only three points back of the San Jose Earthquakes and Real Salt Lake who they will face this Saturday at CenturyLink Field.


Injury report:

Seattle Sounders FC - For the Sounders, Josh Ford, Michael Tetteh, Steve Zakuani, Babayele Sodade and Michael Gspurning of course are out. Alvaro Fernandez is fully recovered from a quad strain that kept him for a couple weeks, however Sigi will decide whether to play him tomorrow, or save him for Saturday's big match.

FC Dallas - For the Hoops, David Ferreira has been out since April 2011. Believe it or not folks, in case you didn't know by now, the day after Zakuani suffered a broken leg, Ferreira suffered a broken ankle in Dallas's match against Vancouver. He's been out ever since. Ricardo Villar, Andrew Wiedeman, Carlos Rodriguez, Bobby Warshaw and Ugo Ihemelu are out as well and as I mentioned earlier, Brek Shea could be out as well due to a turf toe on his left foot. Right now Shea is listed as Questionable.


Suspensions:

Seattle Sounders FC - Leo Gonzalez was just penalized by the MLS Disciplinary Committee for stomping on Sheanon Williams last match against the Philadelphia Union, so he'll be suspended for this match.

FC Dallas - As I mentioned earlier, Blas Perez and Daniel Hernandez are suspended for tomorrow nights match after they each picked up a red card in their match against Colorado.

Alot to play for in this early part of the season for the Seattle Sounders as they hope to inch closer to the top spot in the Western Conference standings or maybe even take over the top spot. Depending on the outcome of this match, Saturdays match against Real Salt Lake could turn out to be a battle for first place in the West. I understand it's early in the season, but when you're in a tight race in the standings, every game feels like a must win. The Sounders have two games in hand with the San Jose Earthquakes and three games in hand with Real Salt Lake and it's important that they take advantage of the games in hand, which they've been able to do so far and they should feel confident having gotten off to a 6-1-1 start.

By Money Mike

In a highly anticipated match between two of the hottest Western Conference teams. Most would've thought FC Dallas would come away with a win, if not a draw. The fact was, Seattle had not won a single match in the state of Texas, and the temperature at kick-off was a fucking 106 degrees. But the Seattle Sounders got through all of that, as Mauro Rosales's 15th minute goal and Kasey Keller's last second heroics prove to be the story in their 1-0 victory over FC Dallas. With the win Seattle climbs above Dallas for 2nd place in the West and remain 6 back of LA for the top spot in the West.

Here's how Seattle got their goal. Lamar Neagle wide left looked to have given the ball away, but the ball bounced away from Ugo Ihemelu and to the feet of Fredy Montero who make a good run and led a streaking Mauro Rosales down the right flank. Rosales fired a low shot from 18 yards out to beat Kevin Hartman who was making his 379th MLS appearance which is now the all-time record. Ihemelu was partnered in the center with Zach Loyd in this match because former UW Husky George John was suspended for the match. There were rumors about George John possibly leaving for England to join Blackburn Rovers in the winter. Zach Loyd had to leave the game early after colliding with Fredy Montero and possibly injuring his leg in the process. Head coach Schellas Hyndman was forced to make an early change, bringing in Jeremy Hall, who was acquired in a trade with the Portland Timbers that sent Eric Alexander the other way, to play right back and move Jackson into the center.

Zach Scott made his third straight start at defense. Getting the start at right back over James Riley with a major test, marking the always dangerous Brek Shea. And all he did was make their go-to guy look like a complete Bozo all game long. This guy hasn't been out on the pitch much since the first couple games of the 2009 season and I was expecting Seattle to cut him during the preseason, but now I think he has a spot in this team. I think he played probably his best match of his MLS career.

Jhon Kennedy Hurtado made his first MLS appearance since suffering an MCL Sprain in their match down at Portland against the Timbers on July 10th and nearly doubled Seattle's lead when he headed the ball past Kevin Hartman, but the offside flag was up.

In the 56th minute, the Sounders could've been reduced to ten men, instead, it was Dallas who were reduced to ten men. Daniel Cruz went down just outside the penalty area and it looked like Erik Friberg was going to be shown a second yellow for the challenge, but instead referee Dave Gantar booked Cruz for diving and that was his second yellow of the game so FC Dallas had to play with 10-men the rest of the game. In all honesty I think this referee has just done a horrible job with this game. I think that was a bad decision, but this is MLS. And Dallas now knows what it's like to be victimized.

Dallas desite playing a man down continued to push and in the 94th minute, they came so close to stealing a point in this game. Kasey Keller punched a free kick clear, but the ball fell straight to Bruno Guarda and Seattle looked doomed, but Kasey Keller came up with probably the biggest save of his life because not only did he save that effort, he saved the victory for the Seattle Sounders.

Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Mauro Rosales 4 (Fredy Montero 6) 15'

Misconduct summary:

FC Dallas - Daniel Cruz (caution; Reckless tackle) 3'

Seattle Sounders FC - Erik Friberg (caution; Tactical foul) 6'

FC Dallas - Ugo Ihemelu (caution; Reckless foul) 27'

FC Dallas - Daniel Cruz (caution; Simulation) 56'

FC Dallas - Daniel Cruz (ejection; Second caution) 56'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (caution; Reckless foul) 60'

Seattle Sounders FC - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution; Tactical foul) 64'

Seattle Sounders FC - Zach Scott (caution; Handball) 94'+

Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leonardo Gonzalez; Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg (Brad Evans 63'), Lamar Neagle; Mike Fucito (Pat Noonan 78'), Fredy Montero (Alvaro Fernandez 68')

FC Dallas - Kevin Hartman; Jackson (Fabian Castillo 73'), Ugo Ihemelu, Zach Loyd (Jeremy Hall 25'), Jair Benitez; Marvin Chavez, Daniel Cruz, Daniel Hernandez (Bruno Guarda 81'), Ricardo Villar, Brek Shea; Maicon Santos

By Money Mike

In the final game of three straight matches at Qwest Field. The Sounders were the better side from the first kick to the final whistle, but all the bullshit calls made by Boldomero Toledo plus great goalkeeping by veteran goalkeeper Kevin Hartman resulted in a 1-0 Sounders loss. FC Dallas has now gone 489 minutes without conceding a goal. The last goal Dallas conceded was a 51st minute goal by Landon Donovan in a 2-1 home victory on May 1st.

The Sounders started off bright in the opening minutes, but in the 17th minute, the defense ends up getting caught on the break.

After Seattle was dispossessed, Brek Shea's vertical run from midfield was met perfectly by Andrew Jacobson who slid the through the defense to Shea who beat Jeff Parke and calmly placed it past Kasey Keller and into the far corner for his 4th goal of the season and an early 1-0 FC Dallas lead.

Seattle nearly pulled one back in the 18th minute, but Erik Friberg's attempt was cleared by Zach Loyd.

In the 42nd minute, Fredy Montero chipped a pass into the area for Mauro Rosales who was able to chest the ball down and strike it with his right foot, but Kevin Hartman stood his ground and kept the ball in front of him.

In the second half, Dallas had a shot to go up by two but the attack broke down when Brek Shea's attempted pass to Fabian Castillo was poorly executed.

In the 64th, a long throw in found the head of Mike Fucito, but Kevin Hartman tipped his effort off the crossbar. Fucito had a chance on the rebound but Hartman came up big again.

The Sounders after picking up only 4 points in their last 3 home matches now head to Real Salt Lake on Saturday. On the other side, FC Dallas look to keep their clean sheet streak alive as they travel to Houston to take on the Dynamo.

Scoring summary:

FC Dallas - Brek Shea 4 (Andrew Jacobson 2) 17'

Misconduct summary:

FC Dallas - George John (caution; Delaying a restart) 44'

Seattle Sounders FC - Zach Scott (caution; Unsporting behavior) 82'

Lineups:

FC Dallas - Kevin Hartman; Jackson, George John, Ugo Ihemelu, Zach Loyd; Marvin Chavez (Ricardo Villar 89'), Daniel Hernandez, Andrew Jacobson, Eric Alexander (Bobby Warshaw 74'), Brek Shea; Fabian Castillo (Ruben Luna 64')

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leonardo Gonzalez; Erik Friberg, Mauro Rosales (Lamar Neagle 83'), Osvaldo Alonso, Alvaro Fernandez (Roger Levesque 64'); Fredy Montero (Nate Jaqua 75'), Michael Fucito