By Money Mike
Unfortunately, another Sounder is packing up and leaving Seattle. After one season with the Seattle Sounders, midfielder Erik Friberg is heading back to Sweden. The 25-year old midfielder has transfered to Swedish Allsvenskan club Malmo FF and will officially join his new club on New Years Day 2012. Reports are saying that Friberg is starting a young family. And honestly, I don't know what they mean by that. All I know is that Friberg wants to be close to his family and is officially transfering from the Sounders on New Years Day when the International Winter Transfer period officially opens.
This move now puts an end to the Brad Evans-Erik Friberg contriversy, but not the way anybody would've hoped. Friberg made 28 appearances for the Sounders (including the playoffs), scored one goal and assisted on two others and he was just about 10x better and more consistant than Brad Evans. Evans these past couple of seasons has been injury prone and on the pitch, he's made some sloppy passes. He really shouldn't be in the starting 11 next season, and with Steve Zakuani returning next season, I don't even think that Evans will be in the starting 11. They may move Mauro Rosales to an attacking midfield position or maybe they'll spend money in the transfer window and pick up an attacking midfielder. Whatever it is they'll do, I doubt Evans will be a starter and I don't think he should be a starter because this guy sucks.
Here's what Friberg said in a statement......
"I am very proud to have played for Sounders FC and our tremendous fans. It's been a fantastic year for me, one that I will never forget. I want to thank my teammates, the coaches, the club officials and our supporters for all their help and encouragement. Perhaps in the future, there will be an opportunity for me to come back and play again for the Sounders."
I'm shocked to hear that Friberg's leaving because he was an asset to the team and everyone who has been watching should agree with this statement. I don't think it's that big of a loss for the Sounders, but I didn't see it coming at all because they protected him in the Expansion Draft, they exercised his option for the 2012 season, but as said on the statement, Friberg isn't ruling out a return to the Sounders in the future, and I hope he comes back to Seattle.
Showing posts with label Erik Friberg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Erik Friberg. Show all posts
Erik Friberg heads back home to Sweden after one season with the Sounders
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Sounders rally falls short losing 3-2 on aggregate to Real Salt Lake
By Money MikeThe Seattle Sounders were 3-nil down coming into the 2nd leg and in need of a three goal win to force extra time and at least a four goal win to take the series. They ended up with only two as they won the 2nd leg 2-0, however, they fell 3-2 on aggregate which means the 2011 season is over and also Kasey Keller long and memorable career is over. Real Salt Lake will move on to the MLS Cup semifinal against either the LA Galaxy or the New York Red Bulls. For the Sounders, they have still yet to make it past the MLS Cup Quarterfinals. In 2009, they were knocked out by the Houston Dynamo. In 2010, they were knocked out by the Los Angeles Galaxy. Now this year, they were knocked out by Real Salt Lake. It's gonna be tough to come by for a couple of days, but none the less, the Sounders are getting better and better and I believe that they will soon put their hands on an MLS Cup.
The Sounders almost got the breakthrough early on. Erik Friberg's cross was deflected right to Fredy Montero who touched it just wide right of Nick Rimando's goal.
The Sounders had to make two early subs in the first half, bringing on Lamar Neagle and Roger Levesque for Brad Evans and Alvaro Fernandez due to injuries.
The biggest save of the night was defender Tony Beltran clearing Jeff Parke's volley off the line with his head. So many opportunities that could've resulted in a comeback win in the series for the Men in Rave Green.
The Sounders got on the board in the 56th minute. Lamar Neagle sent in a cross for Mike Fucito who was pulled down by Tony Beltran and referee Jair Marrufo wasted no time pointing the penalty spot. Beltran was also booked for the challenge. Ozzie Alonso stepped up to take the penalty for the Seattle Sounders and he would drive it low and right down the middle to put the Sounders on the board in the series, making it 1-0 in the second leg and 3-1 RSL on aggregate.
Five minutes later, the Sounders got another goal. Lamar Neagle first-timed a Fredy Montero pass into the far corner and all the sudden, the Sounders were back in the series. The Sounders continued to attacked all game, but in the end, Real Salt Lake did well enough to hang on and win the series.
Scoring summary (first leg):
Real Salt Lake - Alvaro Saborio (Chris Wingert, Javier Morales) 41'
Real Salt Lake - Alvaro Saborio (Javier Morales) 53'
Real Salt Lake - Ned Grabavoy (unassisted) 88'
Scoring summary (second leg):
Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (penalty kick) 56'
Seattle Sounders FC - Lamar Neagle (Fredy Montero, Osvaldo Alonso) 61'
- Real Salt Lake advances 3-2 on aggregate
Misconduct summary:
Real Salt Lake - Tony Beltran (caution; Tactical foul) 55'
Real Salt Lake - Nick Rimando (caution; Delaying a restart) 56'
Seattle Sounders FC - Roger Levesque (caution; Reckless tackle) 62'
Seattle Sounders FC - Leonardo Gonzalez (caution; Reckless tackle) 92'+
Lineups:
Real Salt Lake - Nick Rimando; Robbie Russell, Chris Schuler, Chris Wingert, Tony Beltran; Andy Williams (Ned Grabavoy 57'), Kyle Beckerman, Javier Morales (Luis Gil 89'), Will Johnson; Fabian Espindola, Alvaro Saborio (Yordany Alvarez 76')
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leonardo Gonzalez; Brad Evans (Roger Levesque 21'), Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg, Alvaro Fernandez (Lamar Neagle 14'); Mike Fucito (Sammy Ochoa 76'), Fredy Montero
Sounders become the first team in 42 years to win three straight U.S. Open Cup titles
By Money MikeThree Years, Three trophies. The Seattle Sounders have done what no MLS team has done before, win three U.S. Open Cup titles in a row, and they have become the first team since the New York Greek-Americans in from 1967-1969 to win three in a row. The Sounders defeated the Chicago Fire by a score of 2-0 after two second half goals by Fredy Montero and Ozzie Alonso and with yet another Cup title, the Sounders have qualified for the 2012-2013 CONCACAF Champions League. The Chicago Fire failed in their bid to join Bethlehem Steel and Maccabi Los Angeles as the only five-time Champions in U.S. Open Cup history. In last years cup final, Seattle broke the attendance record with 31,111 fans. This year, they broke their own record with 35,615 fans in attendance.
Chicago had an early opportunity off a free kick about 30 seconds into the match. Pavel Pardo's delivery found its way to Cory Gibbs who directed his header well wide of Kasey Keller's right hand side.
Seattle began to press immediately after. In the 2nd minute, Mike Fucito's free kick was intended for Jhon Kennedy Hurtado at the far post, but the delivery was just over his head. A minute later, Seattle won a corner. Lamar Neagle took the corner from the left hash mark and found Jeff Parke who's header was blocked by a Chicago defender, may have been Cory Gibbs with the block but Pavel Pardo was also defending on the play. The ball bounced right back to Parke who had another chance at it, but all he could do was get a toe poke on it and the ball was easily gathered by Sean Johnson.Sounders weren't done yet. In the 5th minute, after some great ball movement, Alvaro Fernandez made a good run against Marco Pappa who was back defending after Gonzalo Segares was caught out of position and whipped in a good ball to Mike Fucito in the penalty area, but the opportunity in the end came to nothing.
In the 7th minute, Lamar Neagle out jumped Dan Gargan and nodded it into the penalty area for Fucito who caught it on the volley with his left foot and forced a terrific kick save from Johnson after Josip Mikulic got caught not paying any attention to the third year man out of Harvard University.
In the 10th minute, the Fire nearly snatched an early goal. Daniel Paladini got it free to Marco Pappa while Ozzie Alonso was applying pressure. Pappa, who scored a hattrick away at Real Salt Lake in one of last weeks midweek matches, unloaded off his left foot which took a deflection and just sailed wide to the left of Keller.
Things got a little quiet since that opportunity until the 39th minute when Marco Pappa made a cut into the middle and unloaded with his left foot again which was deflected as well and almost got caught wrong footed by the deflection but he was able recover and make the save.
In the 44th minute, Gonzalo Segares gave the ball away to Mike Fucito in a dangerous area. Fucito was forced wide by Josip Mikulic and couldn't get a shot away, instead, be back healed the ball to Alvaro Fernandez for a first timed shot and Sean Johnson was forced to make another save. The Sounders nearly broke through just before the break. Fredy Montero after dribbling away from Pavel Pardo made a cut to the middle and got off what looked like a weak right footed effort, but the shot somehow nearly went in as it hit the post (the goalkeepers best friend). The ball bounced off Mike Fucito but he couldn't get anything on it and it went out of play. Montero beat four Chicago players by the look of things. Dribbling away from Pardo Pardo, Patrick Nyarko couldn't get back in time to break up the opportunity and both Logan Pause and Josip Mikulic just stood around and left a gap for Montero to shoot at. Both teams went into the locker room scoreless at halftime, but it could've been 4-0 Sounders after all of that.
In the Second half, the Sounders took out Alvaro Fernandez after he suffered a head injury and that's the last thing you want to hear this late in the season. He was replaced by Erik Friberg and I was quite surprised by the move and didn't know why because I was in the stands, but turned out to be a good sub, Friberg did very well in the second half. In the 53rd minute, Seattle once again was denied by the goalpost. Leo Gonzalez's long throw found Lamar Neagle just outside the box. Neagle directed his header brilliantly to the path of Mike Fucito and the little guy jumps up and lobs it over Sean Johnson at the far post, but the post yet again keeps Chicago from falling behind in the early stages of the second half. And this has happened a lot, especially big clubs, that even if you have 10, 20 or even 30 opportunities and you're unable to capitalize on them, it could come back to haunt you and with an hour gone and another half hour to go in the match, we were sort of at the point where something like that could happen.
Chicago struggled mightily to create any opportunity in the second half and they had to make a change defensively in the 61st minute. Rookie Jalil Anibaba came in to replace Josip Mikulic and my guess the reason for this switch was that he may picked up an injury after an attempted sliding challenge to dispossess one of the Sounder players. He made the challenge and I don't remember if there was a foul called or the referee signaled for a throw in. But Mikulic stayed down on the turf and I don't know what the hell the Emerald City Supporters were chanting. The stadium was too loud, but from what I heard, it sounded like they were chanting "LET HIM DIE". Again, I couldn't hear what they actually said, but it was somewhere at that line.
In the 77th minute, the Chicago back line had so many difficulties clearing the ball way. James Riley's cross towards Fredy Montero was headed away by Jalil Anibaba. The ball however fell to Erik Friberg who fed Riley with a nice lead pass. Riley's cross found Montero for a header that was cleared off the line by Anibaba. Ozzie Alonso out jumped Daniel Paladini and got a head to it, directing to Lamar Neagle, who nodded it down for Mike Fucito who had a go from about 18-yards away, but it was Anibaba getting the way again. Jeff Parke stepped in to the Chicago half and touched it on to James Riley who chipped it back in. Fredy Montero did very well to use his strength and chest it down to Brad Evans for a left footer, but doing all the work to deny the Sounders again was Jalil Anibaba and Seattle won a corner. And usually in these circumstances, it's the goalkeeper that yells at his defenders for not clearing the ball away, but Anibaba was the guy yelling at his teammates and he had every right to be angry because he was doing all the dirty work for goalkeeper Sean Johnson while the other defenders were just standing around being lazy.
After all that, I sensed a goal coming for the Sounders, and I told few people that it's coming and guess what? 30 seconds later, straight from a set play, the Sounders got their goal. Erik Friberg's outswinger from the near hash mark found Jeff Parke who directed his header towards the far post and forced another Sean Johnson as he went down and got his right hand to it and right there at the door step was Fredy Montero to knock it into the back of the net and the Sounders finally broke through with just over 12 minutes to go and the stadium erupted as Fredy Montero knocked home his 16th goal in all compititions this season.
Chicago made to attack minded substitutions, bringing in Diego Chaves in the 80th minute and Sebastien Grazzini in the 85th, but that didn't help at all. In stoppage time, Seattle switched to the possession game to kill time off the clock. Fredy Montero took it to the end line and with 3 red shirts around him, he did very well to keep it in play and Lamar Neagle fed it to Ozzie Alonso who had other ideas besides keeping the ball away from Chicago, he made sure Chicago had no chance of getting back into the game at all. Alonso made a brilliant cut to force Marco Pappa to slip and fall. He then dribbled around Sean Johnson who collided with teammate Patrick Nyarko while trying to recover and slotted the ball into an empty net to put this game beyond reach and cap off an Emerald City 3-peat for the Seattle Sounders. 
The Sounders have had quite a history of playing big matches and winning trophies. Back in the NASL days they made it to the Championship and fell short, most notabally to the New York Cosmos who had Pele at the time and then the NASL folded and the Sounders are out of business for a few years. They got back on the field in 1994 after the USL was formed and they won 4 USL titles. Them USL team folded in 2008 after an MLS team a bought in Seattle to begin play at the start of the 2009 season. And the week when we had to vote for a name, which was just before the start of our final USL season in April of 08', there were three candidates and the Sounders were not one of the three. Instead, the three were Seattle FC, Seattle Republic and Seattle Alliance, and I can tell a lot of us were unhappy with that. Then about a day later, they decided to add a write in, which was fair enough for me, but the concern was that what the folks, who never heard of the Sounders that time, would write in. The name, Seattle Sounders, had to be name of the MLS team, otherwise the history of Soccer in Seattle, in my opinion, is ruined. So I chose the write in and voted Seattle Sounders. And right off the back, Seattle has had an MLS team for three years now, they've made the playoffs all three of those years and they already have three trophies.
The game I went to earlier this season was also against the Chicago Fire which ended with the Sounders coming out on top 2-1 and getting their first game of the season. I also mentioned that it was the best match I've seen. SCREW THAT!! The U.S. Open Cup final was the best match that I've seen with my own eyes now. Prior to this match, I was at home, waiting for a while before we left for the match and I was shaking a bit, and my heart was pounding off and on because this was a huge match. We parked about a couple miles from Safeco Field at about 6:25 and a lot of fans were still making their way to the stadium. I was following the crowd who were on the streets or the sidewalks. When you're following a crowd, there's an easy chance you could end of getting lost for a little bit. There was a rediculus fan running to the match like he was gonna be late for kickoff and he ended up losing his energy and he didn't even make it to Safeco Field. For people that didn't attend, because the game was on FOX Soccer, I wonder what the result was between people watching the game and people heading to SeaTac because of the fact that Amanda Knox landed in Seattle somewhere at the time of kickoff for the final. After the game and the trophy presentation, the team shops in Seattle were still open and they were already selling the 3-peat t-shirts. The first shop we went to, all they had left was a Double XL. Sure I'll buy one, lol. We tried another shop and all they had was small. So no luck on buying a shirt, but then later I looked online to see if they had it available and they were available to pre-order for $20 so maybe I will get a shirt soon. But I enjoyed every single minute of the game.Scoring summary:
Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (unassisted) 77'
Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (Lamar Neagle) 96'+
Misconduct summary:
Chicago Fire - Patrick Nyarko (caution) 27'
Chicago Fire - Daniel Paladini (caution) 37'
Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (caution) 90'
Chicago Fire - Jalil Anibaba (caution) 90'
Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (caution) 90'
Lineups:
Chicago Fire - Sean Johnson; Dan Gargan (Sebastian Grazzini 85'), Josip Mikulic (Jalil Anibaba 61'), Cory Gibbs, Gonzalo Segares; Marco Pappa, Logan Pause, Pavel Pardo, Daniel Paladini (Diego Chaves 80'), Patrick Nyarko; Dominic Oduro
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leonardo Gonzalez; Alvaro Fernandez (Erik Friberg 46'), Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Lamar Neagle; Mike Fucito (Roger Levesque 91'+), Fredy Montero
Different lineup - Same result for the Seattle Sounders
By Money MikeWith the U.S. Open Cup final just three days away, Sigi Schmid made some changes in his lineup and rested a few of the key players leading up to Tuesday's Cup final match against the Chicago Fire. Despite a few shaky areas in the lineup, the Sounders still managed to come away with all three points, defeating the New England Revolution by a score of 2-1. The Sounders are now 6 points clear of Real Salt Lake for second place and are now just a point away from securing home field advantage in the MLS Cup Quarterfinal. The Sounders return home to Seattle tomorrow morning after a long traveling week to Vancouver, B.C., Guatemala City and Foxborough. My guess is they will have Sunday off and then get back to training on Monday for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final on Tuesday night at CenturyLink Field. Kickoff time for that match is 7pm on FOX Soccer and will also be aired on 97.3 KIRO FM. The Sounders will look to become the first team since the New York Greek-Americans to win their third consecutive U.S. Open Cup title.
New England thought they had a goal in the opening minutes of the game. Benny Feilhaber's free kick was headed out of the area by a Seattle defender. Ryan Guy headed it back into the danger area and it fell to Milton Caraglio who headed it into the far post, but the offside flag was up. The replay however showed that the assistant referee got that wrong and that should've been the opening goal for the New England Revolution. In the 20th minute, Ryan Guy's delivery found 16-year old Diego Fagundez from point blank range who just tucked his shot wide of Kasey Keller's left. Three minutes later, Fagundez spun away from Patrick Ianni and Seattle were caught on a 2 on 1 break. Fagundez fed it across to a wide open Ryan Guy who took one touch and was denied by the veteran Kasey Keller. That one touch may have eluded Ryan Guy. New England started the game brightly for the first 35 minutes of the game. The only Sounders player who looked lively in the early stages of the game was David Estrada.In the
35th minute, the young lad who the Revs are very high on, opened up the scoring in this match. Benny Feilhaber sent in a brilliant cross off the corner kick to the middle of the danger area and the man getting on the end of it was Diego Fagundez, coming in unmarked to head home his second professional goal in his fourth professional appearance. New England is very very high on this young kid, only 16-years old. He scored on his MLS debut on August 6th against Chivas USA. He will become more of a threat in years to come. If he gets a lot of playing time next season, he could end up hitting the 10 goal mark, or close to it. I may be bluffing here, but as Arlo White said, this guy has a great future as a footballer.
35th minute, the young lad who the Revs are very high on, opened up the scoring in this match. Benny Feilhaber sent in a brilliant cross off the corner kick to the middle of the danger area and the man getting on the end of it was Diego Fagundez, coming in unmarked to head home his second professional goal in his fourth professional appearance. New England is very very high on this young kid, only 16-years old. He scored on his MLS debut on August 6th against Chivas USA. He will become more of a threat in years to come. If he gets a lot of playing time next season, he could end up hitting the 10 goal mark, or close to it. I may be bluffing here, but as Arlo White said, this guy has a great future as a footballer.
The lead however lasted only a minute and a half. In the 36th minute, it's the red hot Fredy Montero once again. After an error on Ryan Cochrane's attempted clearance, Montero pounced on the ball and curled it into the far corner for his team leading 10th goal of the year.In the 48th minute, it was Montero once again. David Estrada's effort was deflected by a Revolution defender. The ball fell to Nate Jaqua who chested it to Fredy Montero who toe poked it past Matt Reis and into the back of the goal for his third brace of the season and oh yes.... to give Seattle the lead. And that goal turned out to be the difference as Seattle sweeps New England in the season series winning 2-1 in both matches.
The Sounders return home for their final homestand of the season with four matches in all compititions and let me say it again. The first of the four will be on Tuesday against the Chicago Fire in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final and I will be there to catch it. They get back to MLS action on Saturday October 8th against former Sounder Sebastien Le Toux and the Philadelphia Union.
Scoring summary:
New England Revolution - Diego Fagundez 2 (Benny Feilbaber 5) 35'
Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 10 (unassisted) 36'
Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 11 (Nate Jaqua 2) 48'
Misconduct summary:
Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (caution; Reckless tackle) 28'
New England Revolution - Milton Caraglio (caution; Reckless tackle) 84'
Lineups:
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; Roger Levesque, Zach Scott, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl; David Estrada, Erik Friberg (Osvaldo Alonso 79'), Servando Carrasco, Alvaro Fernandez (Lamar Neagle 46'); Nate Jaqua, Fredy Montero (Mike Fucito 68')
New England Revolution - Matt Reis; Kevin Alston, Ryan Cochrane (Darius Barnes 68'), A.J. Soares, Chris Tierney; Ryan Guy, Shalrie Joseph, Benny Feilhaber, Monsef Zerka (Pat Phelan 69'); Milton Caraglio, Diego Fagundez
Seattle Sounders FC preview vs Real Salt Lake
By Money Mike
After a much needed break, the Seattle Sounders hit the pitch as they host Real Salt Lake. Kickoff time is at 1pm and will be televised on KING 5 and on Radio at 97.3 KIRO FM. The Sounders are coming off a weeks rest after playing 8 matches in all compititions in the month of August in which the Sounders finished 7-0-1. The last time these two clubs met was on May 25th at Rio Tinto Stadium aka The Fortress (at least until that match ended), where the Sounders ended RSL's 29 game unbeaten streak at home in MLS play by defeating them 2-1. Patrick Ianni and Lamar Neagle were the goalscorers in that one for the Sounders. Now with the Sounders attack stronger than ever, RSL's defense is going to be under so much pressure with the creativity coming from Mauro Rosales and Fredy Montero, the speed of Lamar Neagle and also pressure coming from the central midfield with Erik Friberg and Ozzie Alonso.
Injury report:
Real Salt Lake - God damn, look at this list. Chris Agorsor is out. Nelson Gonzalez, Javier Morales and Chris Wingert, also out. Kyle Reynish is doubtful. Robbie Russell is listed as questionable. Jean Alexandre, Kyle Beckerman, Fabien Espindola, Ned Grabavoy, Jamison Olave, Nick Rimando and Alvaro Saborio are all listed as probable.
Seattle Sounders FC - For the Men in Rave Green, one new player listed on here. Backup goalkeeper Terry Boss suffered a concussion last weekend on international duty with Puerto Rico and has been shut down for the rest of the season. Steve Zakuani still rehabing from that ugly injury. Just a question if he'll be back at all by the time the playoffs begin. Mike Seamon is also out. O'Brian White, also questions about him being back this season. I tell ya what, setbacks are never pretty.
Key matchups:
Lamar Neagle vs Tony Beltran - The Sounders should come right at the defense right away at the start of kickoff. Lamar Neagle coming off a hat-trick a couple weeks ago against Columbus, I don't think Tony Beltran will have a chance to get forward.
Mauro Rosales vs Chris Schuler - Just like Beltran at right back, Schuler is gonna have some nervous moments going up against Mauro Rosales who has 5 goals and 9 assists. It's gonna be a long day for Schuler and his teamates.
Sounders defeat San Francisco FC 2-0, advance to the group stage of the Champions League
By Money MikeThe Seattle Sounders, coming into the second leg down 1-0, needed to win by two, and the easiest way to do that was to avoid conceding an away goal. And that is exactly what they did. Alvaro Fernandez and Nate Jaqua came through for the Sounders as they defeated San Francisco FC in the 2nd leg 2-0 and they will proceed to the Group Stage of the CONCACAF Champions League after a 2-1 aggrigate series win. The winner of this matchup (which we know now is the Sounders) was drawn into Group D with Monterrey (Mexico), Comunicaciones (Guatemala), and C.S. Herediano (Costa Rica) who also advanced from the Preliminary round.
You won't believe this number here. The Sounders outshot San Francisco 34-5 from the first kick to the final whistle.
The First blood came in minute number 41. Leo Gonzalez made an overlaping run from the back and whipped in a very good cross to the middle of the area and found Alvaro Fernandez unmarked and Big Man Fernandez headed the ball off the far post and in the goal to give the Sounders a 1-0 lead in the 2nd leg and level the series up at 1-1.
The Sounders came close late in normal time to put this game and the series away. Fredy Montero, who has really stepped his game up this past month, just barely shot wide of the near post off a free kick. Not long after, goalkeeper Miguel Torres came up to stop Nate Jaqua of a breakaway chance.In stoppage time, Mauro Rosales whipped in a cross, Torres looked like he got a punch on it. The ball came to Fredy Montero who had loads of time to settle and get a shot away but the ball just sailed high over the bar.
In the 8th minute of extra time, the Sounders broke the deadlock on aggrigate. Alvaro Fernandez rather than trying to put the ball away with his left, squared the ball across and the ball fell to Nate Jaqua who took one touch and then roofed it into the goal to give the Sounders the lead in the series and it turned out to be the winner after it was all said and done.Scoring summary:
Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez (Leonardo Gonzalez, Fredy Montero) 41'
Seattle Sounders FC - Nate Jaqua (Alvaro Fernandez, Mauro Rosales) 98'
Misconduct summary:
San Francisco FC - Roberto Brown (caution; Reckless foul) 46+'
Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Reckless foul) 60'
Seattle Sounders FC - Mauro Rosales (caution; Handball) 61'
San Francisco FC - Johann de Avila (caution; Reckless tackle) 63'
Seattle Sounders FC - Erik Friberg (caution; Dissent) 110'
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller (caution; Dissent) 110'
Lineups:
San Francisco FC - Miguel Torres; Luis Olivardia, Roberto Cohen, Edgardo Panezo (Jefrey Diaz 102'), Martin Gomez, Rolando Algandona; Manuel Torres, Eybir Bonaga; Johann de Avila, Amir Waite (Freddy Arizala 85'), Roberto Brown
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Zach Scott, Leonardo Gonzalez; Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg (Servando Carrasco 112'), Alvaro Fernandez (Lamar Neagle 111'); Pat Noonan (Nate Jaqua 68'), Fredy Montero
Sounders unbeaten run ends at 9 games, lose 3-1.
By Money Mike
The Seattle Sounders saw their 9 game unbeaten streak in MLS disappear in front of their eyes and what a cruel way to end your run. The Houston Dynamo came away victorious with a 3-1 win. Former Gonzaga Bulldog Brian Ching scored two of the three goals for the Dynamo who are now 2-1-2 in their last 5 games. With the loss, the Sounders are now 10-5-8 on the year and remain in third place in the Western Conference.
OK, first of all, do me a favor boys and girls and add Niko Bratsis to the list of douchebag referees in Major League Soccer. I mean all match long he fucked up real good. There we're so many fouls that he did not call. So many, that I lost count, that's how bad he was. This was unbelievable, in the 73rd minute (I don't know), Colin Clark shoved Alvaro Fernandez to the ground in front of the linesman, he should've been booked for that and the referee didn't go to his pocket. And I mean damnit, what the fuck. He pushed Fernandez to the ground and got away with it. You got to be shittin me. There was a handball on Corey Ashe that he did not call, the third goal that Houston scored, Colin Clark was well offside and there were so many fouls that he did not call. I mean this fucker did an absolutely pathetic job refereeing the game. Not only did he get the majority of his calls wrong, he didn't keep the fuckin Houston Dynamo players under control like he was supposed to and instead lets them get away with pushing the Sounder players to the ground. Fuck the ref and fuck the Dynamo!!Houston got on the board early on in the seventh minute. A missed clearance by Jeff Parke allows Colin Clark to control the ball with one touch and then slot it home for his third goal of the season. Houston would tack on another goal, a terrific bending ball to the middle of the area by Geoff Cameron found for a headed goal Brian Ching from point blank range and Seattle found themselves down by 2 goals to nil.
The Sounders would pull one back in the 36th minute. Fredy Montero drew a foul in the penalty box after he beat Corey Ashe to the ball. Scrambling back, Ashe went to ground and caught Montero from behind and referee Niko Bratsis pointed to the penalty spot (Amazing he got a call right). Alvaro Fernandez stepped up to take the PK and he calmly place it into the far post, sending goalkeeper Tally Hall the wrong way.
In the 71st minute, Houston put the game to bed. Colin Clark was found off a through ball from Hunter Freeman and he quickly squared it across to Brian Ching for his second goal of the game. Of course this was another blown decision by the officials. Colin Clark was offside.
Scoring summary:
Houston Dynamo - Colin Clark 3 (unassisted) 7'
Houston Dynamo - Brian Ching 2 (Geoff Cameron 4, Brad Davis 10) 23'
Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez 6 (penalty kick) 36'
Houston Dynamo - Brian Ching 3 (Colin Clark 2, Hunter Freeman 2) 71'
Misconduct summary:
Houston Dynamo - Cam Weaver (caution; Reckless tackle) 34'
Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez (caution; Tactical foul) 38'
Houston Dynamo - Brad Davis (caution; Reckless tackle) 76'
Seattle Sounders FC - Mike Fucito (caution; Dissent) 87'
Lineups:
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl; Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg, Alvaro Fernandez (Mike Fucito 78'); Fredy Montero (Pat Noonan 68'), Roger Levesque (Nate Jaqua 57')
Houston Dynamo - Tally Hall; Hunter Freeman, Bobby Boswell, Andre Hainault, Corey Ashe; Colin Clark (Alex Dixon 89'), Geoff Cameron, Adam Moffat, Brad Davis; Brian Ching (Jason Garey 87'), Will Bruin (Cam Weaver 31')
Manchester United just too much for the Sounders
By Money MikeIn front of a crowd of 67,052, Manchester United score 6 second half goals and spank the Seattle Sounders by a score of 7-0. This is the only friendly match the Sounders have this season. There was quite a bit of Red in support of Manchester United. There are still match day scarfs from last nights match available to purchase online at soundersfc.com. As a matter of fact, you can still purchase scarves from previous friendly matches against Chivas de Guadalajara, Boca Juniors and of course they're still selling the scarves from 09' against Chelsea and Barcelona. The only matchday scarf I have is from July 28th of last year when the Colorado Rapids came to town. That was the match I went to. I didn't get one from the April 9th game against Chicago which was the fifth game of the 2011 season. The only time you'll expect me to purchase another one is if I'm attending an international friendly match or maybe a Champions League match (if they sell them during that time).
As you can see on the picture, they brought the Premier League trophy out on to the field as both teams entered the XBOX Pitch at CenturyLink Field. Now this was weird. I know they're a big club and all, but I didn't see Barcelona do that in 09' following their La Liga title. But captain Nemanja Vidic carried the trophy out onto the pitch with his walking buddy.
United opened up the scoring in the 15th minute. Patrice Evra made a run from his left back spot and was found by Ashley Young. Evra sent in a drivin cross and somehow the ball fell to Michael Owen for the opening goal.
Now this is one thing you Sounder fans don't understand, and that is player development. Why the hell would Sigi Schmid leave his first team out there in the 2nd half of a friendly match just because they were down 1-0? Comeon that's just stupid. Of course he would put in Michael Tetteh, David Estrada, Mike Seamon, Miguel Montano, etc.
In the 49th minute, a beautiful ball by Nani found Mame Biram Diouf who made one touch to get around backup goalkeeper Terry Boss, then settled, then tapped the ball into an empty net to make it 2-0.
In the 51st, again it was Nani who was the provider. This time he set up Wayne Rooney who ripped the ball into the top corner. Rooney wasn't done there, he added another goal in the 69th minute, rolling the ball into the top corner. Rooney wasn't done there, he was found off a driven cross by Gabriel Oberton in the 72nd minute for his 3rd goal of the game, also known as a hat trick. Oberton would get on the scoresheet in the 88th minute and that's how the friendly would end.
The Sounders resume competitive play on July 26th when they head to Panama for the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round against San Francisco F.C.
Scoring summary:
Manchester United - Michael Owen (Patrice Evra, Ashley Young) 15'
Manchester United - Mame Biram Diouf (unassisted) 49'
Manchester United - Wayne Rooney (Nani) 51'
Manchester United - Wayne Rooney (unassisted) 69'
Manchester United - Park Ji-Sung (Wayne Rooney) 71'
Manchester United - Wayne Rooney (Gabriel Oberton) 72'
Manchester United - Gabriel Oberton (unassisted) 88'
Lineups:
Manchester United - Anders Lindegarrd (Ben Amos 46'); Rafael da Silva, Nemanja Vidic (Jonny Evans 56'), Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra (Fabio da Silva 56'); Nani (Gabriel Oberton 56'), Anderson, Ryan Giggs (Park Ji-Sung 46'), Ashley Young (Michael Carrick 66'); Michael Owen (Mame Biram Diouf 46'), Federico Mecheda (Wayne Rooney 46')
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller (Terry Boss 46'); James Riley (David Estrada 73'), Jeff Parke (Michael Tetteh 64'), Patrick Ianni (Taylor Graham 64'), Leonardo Gonzalez (Zach Scott 46'); Mauro Rosales (Servando Carrasco 46'), Osvaldo Alonso (Brad Evans 46') (Mike Seamon 64'), Erik Friberg (Pat Noonan 46') (Mrisho Ngassa 76'), Alvaro Fernandez (Lamar Neagle 46') (O'Brian White 76'); Roger Levesque (Nate Jaqua 46') (Miguel Montano 76'), Fredy Montero (Mike Fucito 46')
Sounders rally with three second half goals. Defeat Rapids 4-3.
By Money MikeThe Seattle Sounders are now 6-0-3 in their last 9 games and in that stretch have now won 5 of their last 6 matches. Taking a look at all the numbers, this is the highest scoring game for the Sounders in their history, defeating the Colorado Rapids by a final score of 4-3. This match was also being played on natural grass, which was put on over the turf for the Sounders friendly match against Manchester United on Wednesday. The Sounders are now 1 point back of the Los Angeles Galaxy for the top spot in the West. LA did have a game today, but it wasn't a league game, it was a friendly against Spanish club Real Madrid at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The match didn't start out the way 36,424 fans would've hoped. A poor clearance by Jeff Parke was quickly pounced on by Wells Thompson who took one touch and drove a low 18-yard shot into the left corner to give the Rapids the lead only a minute into the match.
The Sounders however didn't lose their focus and in the 7th minute, Ozzie Alonso found Alvaro Fernandez streaking down Seattle's left hand side, and the DP from Uruguay held off Kosuke Kimura long enough to fire a shot in at the far post.
In the 21st minute, Pablo Mastroeni, who picked up a yellow card, should've been shown a second yellow card for his altercation with Erik Friberg. Mastroeni reacted to the foul on Friberg by throwing a forearm at him just as he was getting back up on his feet. These Rapids are just turning into a bunch of dirty pricks. Almost the entire team has played dirty all match. Conor Casey threw an elbow on one of the Seattle players, I don't know if it was James Riley or Mauro Rosales. Drew Moor threw a forearm at Rosales as he was on the ground. The referee should've sent Pablo off for the elbow on Friberg, but he just gives him a warning which is ridiculous. And also, Kyle Martino, who is the Color Commentator on Fox Soccer Channel, needs his ass whooped. I mean really, this guy is the worst Color Commentator ever. After Brian Mullan made that tackle on Steve Zakuani, Martino backed him and said, "Brian Mullan isn't a dirty player." That's bullshit. And now he's backing up the referee for no sending Pablo off, I mean he's pretty much a guy who thinks no fouls are worthy of bookings.
On the stroke of halftime the Rapids jumped back ahead. Wells Thompson collected a long ball from Omar Cummings, and laid it off at the top of the area for Jeff Larentowicz who fired a low drive off the far post and in.
The Sounders, much like they did in the early stages of the first half down a goal, respond quickly a minute into the second half. Roger Levesque flicked in a cross from Mauro Rosales to level the match up a 2-2.
With eight minutes to go, the Sounders fould the break trough. Brad Evans, who actually played today, tried his luck from a tight angle. Matt Pickens made the save, but Fredy Montero came crashing in and he put the rebound away with a diving header to give Seattle a 3-2 lead. The Sounders weren't done yet. Two minutes later, Fredy Montero's ball into the penalty area was not dealt with by Drew Moor and Mauro Rosales capitalized on the missed touch and slotted the ball past Matt Pickens.
Colorado cut the lead to one in the 89th minute when Caleb Folan slammed home a rebound off a corner kick. But it was not enough as the Sounders held on for a 4-3 win.
Scoring summary:
Colorado Rapids - Wells Thompson 1 (unassisted) 1'
Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez 5 (Osvaldo Alonso 1) 7'
Colorado Rapids - Jeff Larentowicz 4 (Wells Thompson 1, Omar Cummings 2) 42'
Seattle Sounders FC - Roger Levesque 3 (Mauro Rosales 6, Osvaldo Alonso 2) 47'
Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 6 (unassisted) 82'
Seattle Sounders FC - Mauro Rosales 2 (Fredy Montero 5) 84'
Colorado Rapids - Caleb Folan 3 (unassisted) 89'
Misconduct summary:
Colorado Rapids - Pablo Mastroeni (caution; Reckless tackle) 18'
Colorado Rapids - Conor Casey (caution; Dissent) 25'
Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (caution; Goalkeeper interference) 27'
Seattle Sounders FC - Roger Levesque (caution; Reckless tackle) 69'
Colorado Rapids - Wells Thompson (caution; Reckless tackle) 79'
Lineups:
Colorado Rapids - Matt Pickens; Kosuke Kimura, Marvell Wynne, Tyrone Marshall, Drew Moor; Sanna Nyassi (Ross LeBauex 80'), Pablo Mastroeni, Jeff Larentowicz, Wells Thompson; Omar Cummings (Andre Akpan 86'), Conor Casey (Caleb Folan 38')
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Patrick Ianni, Jeff Parke, Tyson Wahl; Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg (Brad Evans 73'), Alvaro Fernandez (Lamar Neagle 71'); Fredy Montero (Nate Jaqua 91+'), Roger Levesque
Sounders rally to defeat the Timbers 3-2
By Money MikeOn the day the United States women's national team defeated Brazil on Penalties to move on the FIFA Women's World Cup, the Seattle Sounders come to Portland and strike 3 times against the Portland Timbers to win the match 3-2 and move into second place and are still 4 points back of the Los Angeles Galaxy who they will face in the Quarterfinal of the U.S. Open Cup on Tuesday at Starfire Sports Complex in Takwila. It was a great day for soccer not only for the Sounders, but for the entire nation as well with the U.S. Women moving onto the Semifinals against France on Wednesday at 8:30am.
In the 32nd minute, public enemy #1 Roger Levesque (Timber fans hate him) got open with a run of the left side but rather than using that space to try to slot one past the keeper Troy Perkins, he decides to cross it to the top of the box for Fredy Montero but the Portland backline had that covered.
Six minutes later, Alvaro Fernandez snuck behind Portland's defense to a clear look at goal but Troy Perkins came off his line to cut down the angle for the Uruguayan international.
Just seconds into the second half, the opening goal went to Rose City FC. Kalif Alhassan went wide of the Seattle's defense and slid a pass into the danger area for Jorge Perlaza who was jostling for possession with Jeff Parke and the ball deflected off Parke and in for an own goal and a 1-0 Portland lead.
In the 57th minute, Seattle answered with a free-kick goal by the Colombian, Fredy Montero. It was his 4th goal of the Season, all have come on the road in 2011.
In the 69th minute, Seattle found themselves on the bottom end again. Jorge Perlaza was freed by a brilliant entry pass from fellow countryman Diego Chara. Perlaza's shot glanced off Tyson Wahl and past the diving Kasey Keller for the goal.
Seattle responded five minutes later. Lamar Neagle put in a cross from the left hand side. Midfielder Mauro Rosales brought it down on the right side to set up an easy tap in from Fredy Montero of all people to tie the match up again at 2-2.
In the 81st minute the Timbers would end up losing a player. Midfielder Lamar Neagle was tackled from behind by Eric Brunner in the box, breaking up a breakaway chance for the Seattle Sounders and referee Jorge Gonzalez quickly reached into his back pocket and showed Brunner the red card. Ozzie Alonso stepped up to take the PK for the visiting team. Coming into this game he was 0 for 1 on PK's for the Sounders, missing one last year in a Champions League match at Saprissa, but Alonso went to the right side, just out of Perkins's reach to give the Sounders the lead for good. The Sounders unbeaten streak lives on, as well as Portland misery at home since they won their first 5 home matches.Scoring summary:
Portland Timbers - Own goal (Jeff Parke) 46'
Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 4 (unassisted) 57'
Portland Timbers - Jorge Perlaza 4 (Diego Chara 1) 69'
Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 5 (Mauro Rosales 5, Lamar Neagle 1) 74'
Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso 3 (Penalty kick) 83'
Misconduct summary:
Portland Timbers - James Marcelin (caution; Reckless foul) 56'
Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (caution; Shirt Removal) 58'
Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Reckless foul) 63'
Seattle Sounders FC - Mauro Rosales (caution; Unsporting behavior) 78'
Portland Timbers - Eric Brunner (ejection; Denied Scoring chance (foul)) 81'
Lineups:
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Patrick Ianni 56'), Tyson Wahl; Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg, Alvaro Fernandez (Lamar Neagle 66'); Roger Levesque, Fredy Montero
Portland Timbers - Troy Perkins; Steve Purdy, Eric Brunner, Mamadou Danso, Rodney Wallace; James Marcelin, Diego Chara, Jack Jewsbury, Darlington Nagbe (Sal Zizzo 64'), Kalif Alhassan; Jorge Perlaza (Kenny Cooper 75')
Sounders defeat New England 2-1. That's now 9 points in the last 8 days.
By Money Mike
The New England Revolution got on the score sheet early, but they failed to hold on as the Seattle Sounders(8-4-7) came back with two first half goals and held on in the second half to defeat New England(3-8-6) 2-1. After two disappointing draws against the Chicago Fire and the Vancouver Whitecaps to start the month of June, the Sounders have won 3 in a row in a string of 8 days against Toronto FC, Red Bull New York and now the New England Revolution and are inching closer to the top spot in the Western Conference, only four points behind the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Revolution are halfway through their 2011 season and have only picked up 15 points which puts them in a tie for last place in the Eastern Conference with Toronto FC. With the month of July approaching means that we'll be seeing more signings, trades and more players sold through the summer. The Sounders have 5 guys on trial including Sammy Ochoa and Myron Samuel. We've had rumors and speculation about Cillian Sheridan signing with the Sounders. He was on trial for a week and did very well, but now it looks like he's actually going to sign with the Portland Timbers which was absolutely uncalled for. The Sounders didn't want him at the price he was asking for. And that's just disappointing because I was excited to see him play for this team and help with our attack and ditching him just for the price tell's me that the staff are being a bunch of pussies. I mean, what? You think you'll go bankrupt for signing him at a huge price? Stupid. Just stupid. Anyway, let's talk about the match....
In the 3rd minute, it was the visitors who struck first. Benny Feilhaber, who missed the last four games do to injury which also knocked him off USA's Gold Cup squad, took the corner from the far hash mark and played a short ball to the top of the penalty area to Sainey Nyassi ripped a hard shot on frame. Kasey Keller got a hand to it but was unable to keep it out. It was the first set piece goal Seattle has conceded in 2011.
In the 23rd minute, the Sounders started to push after Pat Phelan nailed Servando Carrasco at midfield and only picked up a yellow card, but that could easily have been and should've been a straight Red Card. Three minutes later, Carrasco picked up a yellow for his tackle from behind on Benny Feilbaber.
In the 34th minute, the Sounders would pull level off another set play. Mauro Rosales collided with Ryan Cochrane just outside the New England penalty area. The referee gave the free kick to Seattle. Erik Friberg and Tyson Wahl we're behind the ball in an area where you would think Tyson Wahl's left foot would favor it. And I was Tyson Wahl who weaved his magic and curled the ball around the wall and into the far upper 90 as Matt Reis had no clue which direction he was going. It was the first Major League Soccer goal for Tyson Wahl who became the 13th different player to score for the Sounders this season. It was also the 8th set piece goal in the last 8 matches for the Sounders.
Six minutes later, the Sounders would pull ahead. New England defender Kevin Alston broke his shoe and rather than going to the bench to get a new shoe, he stayed on the ground and played everybody onside and the Sounders took advantage of it. Mauro Rosales fed a good ball into the penalty area for Roger Levesque who tapped it to Alvaro Fernandez who finished with the inside of his right foot to put the Sounders up 2-1. Fernandez is now tied for the team lead in Goals with Brad Evans with four goals.
Lamar Neagle had a good chance in the second half to make it 3-1. Drifting out to the right, Neagle took on left back Darrius Barnes. Took a couple of touches before having a go and he wasn't far away. Neagle has one of the greatest strikes on this team, and he managed to show that on the road at Real Salt Lake.
New England had some chances as well including Shalrie Joseph who forced a save by Kasey Keller from point blank range off the corner, while forward Rajko Lukic just missed the far post with a searing volley. In the 85th minute, A. J. Soares fed Zach Schilawski at midfield. Schilawski turned and ripped one from distance but the crossbar saved the Sounders the 3 points. In the end the match ended 2-1 Sounders.
Scoring summary:
New England Revolution - Sainey Nyassi 1 (Benny Feilhaber 2) 3'
Seattle Sounders FC - Tyson Wahl 1 (unassisted) 34'
Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez 4 (Roger Levesque 2, Mauro Rosales 4) 40'
Misconduct summary:
New England Revolution - Pat Phelan (caution; Reckless tackle) 23'
Seattle Sounders FC - Servando Carrasco (caution; Tactical foul) 26'
New England Revolution - Ryan Cochrane (caution; Reckless tackle) 72'
New England Revolution - Rajko Lekic (caution; Dissent) 78'
Seattle Sounders FC - Tyson Wahl (caution; Delaying a Restart) 87'
New England Revolution - A. J. Soares (caution; Dissent) 90'
Lineup:
New England Revolution - Matt Reis; Kevin Alston, Ryan Cochrane (Zach Schilawski 81'), A. J. Soares, Darrius Barnes; Sainey Nyassi (Zak Boggs 62'), Pat Phelan, Shalrie Joseph, Benny Feilhaber, Ryan Guy (Kenny Mansally 62'); Rajko Lekic
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Jeff Parke (Patrick Ianni 17'), Tyson Wahl; Lamar Neagle, Servando Carrasco, Erik Friberg, Alvaro Fernandez (Pat Noonan 69'); Mauro Rosales (Nate Jaqua 89'), Roger Levesque
Sounders defeat Red Bulls 4-2 in front of a record crowd of 46,065
By Money Mike
In front of a record crowd for an MLS match in Seattle, the Seattle Sounders(7-4-7) did not disappoint as they defeated the New York Red Bulls(5-3-8) 4-2 as the fan favorite Roger Levesque found the back of the net twice for the Sounders. The win pushes Seattle into a tie for 2nd place with FC Dallas in the Western Conference and are 6 back of the Los Angeles Galaxy for 1st place. 3 of the Sounders 4 goals have come off set plays which Hans Backe's team has had issues defending. With Defenders Tim Ream and Rafa Marquez still on Gold Cup duty for their countries as well as 18-year old Forward Juan Agudelo, Backe went with Carlos Mendes and former USL Seattle Sounder Stephen Keel at Central Defense and with Theirry Henry suspended for this match and Luke Rodgers out injured, Backe partnered up Dwayne De Rosario with Dane Richards. But now the question for them is, should they take Goalkeeper Greg Sutton's starting job away for his error he made which lead to the forth goal? I mean really, for a guy who represented Senegal at the 2008 African Cup of Nations, I'm pretty sure Bouna Coundoul wouldn't have made that kind of mistake.
Despite a pretty shaky start, the Sounders got on the board first in the 11th minute. Mauro Rosales sent in a corner from the near hash mark to the middle of the penalty area which was headed away by Teemu Tainio but right to Erik Friberg who cut the ball to his right foot to get rid of Dane Richards who was defending and curled it into the far post. Friberg did very well to position himself for a shot on goal and all he had to do was try to curl it, which he did. And a minute later, another set play, and another goal for the Men in Rave Green... Rosales took the corner again and again it was headed into a bad spot again and Osvaldo Alonso stepped up and volleyed a short clearance which appeared to deflect off a foot of Roy Miller and into the net for Alonso's second goal in 3 matches. Alonso has started to push forward on the attack more than what we've seen his first two season's here in Seattle.
In the 31st minute the Red Bulls pulled one back. Dane Richards had about 5 yards between him and Zach Scott. After receiving a pass from Joel Lindpere, Richards took about 2-3 touches to beat Scott and send a floater to the far post off the hand of Keller and into the goal to cut the Sounders lead down to 2-1. Zach Scott had a terrible game, giving the ball away in his own area too many times, poor defending, and also scoring an own-goal.In the 58th minute, this was the own-goal. Right back Jan Gunnar Solli made an excellent run down the right hand side and was fed beautifully by Dwayne De Rosario. Solli sent in a low driven cross that deflected off Scott and into the net to tie the match at 2-2.
Both teams threatened with the score tied but in the 67th minute, it was Seattle scoring on a set play for the 3rd time in the match. Leonardo Gonzalez, who was playing with a heavy heart, took the corner this time, and I thought it was weak, but he found Roger Levesque lurking at the near post and Levesque knocked a glancing header over his shoulder and inside Sutton's far post. He would get another one 11 minutes later. In the 78th minute, Greg Sutton misplayed a simple back pass from Jan Gunnar Solli, allowing Levesque to pick-pocket him and tap the ball into an empty net to put the match beyond reach.
The Sounders will look to close out the month of June unbeaten as they host the New England Revolution on Sunday while the Red Bulls travel to Toyota Park in Bridgeview and take on Chicago Fire the same day.
Scoring summary:
Seattle Sounders FC - Erik Friberg 1 (unassisted) 11'
Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso 2 (unassisted) 12'
New York Red Bulls - Dane Richards 3 (Joel Lindpere 3) 31'
New York Red Bulls - Own Goal (Zach Scott) 58'
Seattle Sounders FC - Roger Levesque 1 (Leonardo Gonzalez 1) 67'
Seattle Sounders FC - Roger Levesque 2 (unassisted) 78'
Misconduct summary:
New York Red Bulls - Teemu Tainio (caution; Reckless foul) 28'
New York Red Bulls - Austin da Luz (caution; Reckless tackle) 50'
Seattle Sounders FC - James Riley (caution; Reckless foul) 52'
Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Reckless tackle) 60'
Seattle Sounders FC - Leonardo Gonzalez (caution; Delaying a Restart) 90'
New York Red Bulls - Dwayne De Rosario (caution; Reckless tackle) 93+'
Lineups:
New York Red Bulls - Greg Sutton; Jan Gunnar Solli, Carlos Mendes, Stephen Keel, Roy Miller; Mehdi Ballouchy, Teemu Tainio (Corey Hertzog 89'), Joel Lindpere, Austin da Luz (John Rooney 79'); Dane Richards, Dwayne De Rosario
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Zach Scott, Leonardo Gonzalez; Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg, Alvaro Fernandez (Servando Carrasco 72'); Fredy Montero (Nate Jaqua 81'), Mike Fucito (Roger Levesque 58')
The Atmosphere at the Stadium:
I've been asking myself the exact same question over and over and over again. "When will they increase the capacity?" Now I don't know if it's gonna stay this way from now on. But 46,000+ in attendance for an MLS soccer match is pretty legit. Well have a bigger crowd like this when Manchester United come to town for a friendly match next month. Seeing a huge crowd like this for a league match itself? Man, 36,000 fans isn't enough anymore. Will they open up the entire stadium? Not at this point, unless we host the Conference final match in the MLS Cup playoffs or maybe even the CONCACAF Champions League, if we make it that far of course.
Sounders end Real Salt Lake's 29-game unbeaten streak at Rio Tinto. Win 2-1.
By Money MikeAfter picking up only 4 points in their last three matches at Qwest Field, the Seattle Sounders headed to Rio Tinto Stadium and put their disappointing home swing behind and ended another teams long unbeaten run on their home ground. Last night, the Seattle Sounders handed Real Salt Lake their first home loss since May 16, 2009 when the Kansas City Wizards last won at Salt Lake. The Sounders with the win are now 5-4-5 on the year and are sitting at 20 points going into the month of June which is a lot better then last year when they only had 12 points going into June, and yet a lot of you fans are just not getting it because you just continue to make ridiculous statements about Sigi Schmid and Fredy Montero.
The Sounders had a few chances in the first half, with the rain in their face, to take the lead. In the 10th minute, off a corner, the cross from Tyson Wahl found Jeff Parke who got up and flicked it toward the far post but Kyle Beckerman got his own head on it to keep it from going into the net.
In the 18th minute, the Sounders had to make an early change when Alvaro Fernandez went down with a hamstring injury. Fernandez actually suffered it during warm-ups but told Sigi Schmid and the training staff that he was fine and ready to go, but his decision aggravated his injury while he was going after a loose ball with Robbie Russell. So Fernandez was subbed out and replaced by Lamar Neagle.
In the 20th minute, RSL tested Kasey Keller with a couple of long distance efforts from Will Johnson and Jean Alexandre. The most difficult one came from Alexandre when Kasey Keller got a pretty bad jump and had trouble getting to the ball, but he did pounce on it without any issues.
The substitute, Lamar Neagle nearly made an impact at the half-hour mark. Neagle got into space behind the defense and cracked one on frame from just outside the Box, but right into the chest of Nick Rimando. Nate Jaqua also had some good opportunities in the first half but came up short.
In the 48th minute, Salt Lake nearly put themselves in front, Erik Friberg's header landed in the direction of Fabian Espindola who took a couple of touches before cracking a left footed effort from point blank range which took a deflection and Keller parried it wide. Espindola, the majority of the time, has been on the wing taking on James Riley and I tell you what, Riley has had a lot of problems with Espindola in this match.
Keller would come up big again in the 51st minute. Seattle still couldn't get the ball out of danger and they nearly payed for it. After a shot deflected off Patrick Ianni, Jamison Olave pounced on the rebound and got a head on the ball, but Keller came out and got a hand to it to redirect it off the crossbar.
Seven minutes later, Olave turned from a near hero to a goat. Mike Fucito got behind Olave. who was the last defender on that play. Olave reached back through Fucito to get the ball and brought him down and if that wasn't a red card, then I don't know what is. Since he was the last man back there for RSL, the referee had to give a straight red card, which he did and RSL had to play the last half hour with 10 men.
In the 71st minute, the Sounders took advantage of the straight red and opened the scoring. Off a corner from Tyson Wahl, Nate Jaqua headed the ball down to Fredy Montero who managed to push it to Patrick Ianni at the doorstep for the tap in to put the Men in Rave Green up 1-0.
Real Salt Lake continued to pour pressure on the Sounders for an equalizer, but in the 84th minute, they end up conceding a 2nd goal. Lamar Neagle received a pass from Tyson Wahl and curled a right footed shot over Nick Rimando and into the far upper 90 for his first goal for the Seattle Sounders. Remember, the Sounders signed Neagle in 2009, but he never played for them that year. He signs with the Charleston Battery in 2010 and scores 12 goals in 19 matches for them. Then he moves to IFK Mariehamn and scores 2 goals in 5 matches. He returned to Seattle for a preseason trial and he just continued to score goals during the preseason so the Sounders had to sign him and now in his 6th appearance for the Sounders, he scores his first MLS goal and even better, he puts the Sounders up 2-0.
With two minutes to go, Salt Lake pulled one back. A throw in from 17-year old Luis Gil found Nelson Gonzalez in the box and the Argentine spun away from Patrick Ianni and slotted the ball past Kasey Keller into the far post. Keller was unhappy with Patrick Ianni after that one and why wouldn't he be unhappy? Looking at the replay, what the fuck was Ianni doing? Trying to trip Gonzalez and draw a penalty? Just being lazy? Either way, there is no excuse for letting him get by you for an easy goal. This is why you have defenders and luckily for Patrick Ianni, that was the only goal Real Salt Lake would get because they came close to coming away with an equalizer in stoppage time just like last year. If that were to happen, they would've been talking about that one play and Ianni would've been a goat for that one mistake. The Sounders now head to Chicago to take on the Fire. In the first meeting between the Sounders and the Fire, and of course I was at that one, the Sounders took all three points with a 2-1 win. The Fire are still looking for their first win since their 3-2 win at home against Sporting Kansas City on March 26th, and I'll talk more about the matchup when I preview the matchup next weekend.Scoring summary:
Seattle Sounders FC - Patrick Ianni 1 (Fredy Montero 4, Nate Jaqua 1) 71'
Seattle Sounders FC - Lamar Neagle 1 (Tyson Wahl 2) 84'
Real Salt Lake - Nelson Gonzalez 1 (Luis Gil 1) 88'
Misconduct summary:
Real Salt Lake - Will Johnson (caution; Reckless foul) 27'
Real Salt Lake - Jamison Olave (ejection; Denied Goal Scoring opportunity (foul)) 58'
Real Salt Lake - Chris Wingert (caution; Reckless foul) 65'
Seattle Sounders FC - James Riley (caution; Dissent) 81'
Seattle Sounders FC - Tyson Wahl (caution; Reckless foul) 90'
Lineups:
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl; Erik Friberg (Roger Levesque 80'), Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Alvaro Fernandez (Lamar Neagle 18'); Mike Fucito (Fredy Montero 69'), Nate Jaqua
Real Salt Lake - Nick Rimando; Robbie Russell (Nelson Gonzalez 76'), Jamison Olave, Nat Borchers, Tony Beltran; Andy Williams (Luis Gil 86'), Kyle Beckerman, Will Johnson, Ned Grabavoy; Jean Alexandre (Chris Wingert 62'), Fabian Espindola
Sounders draw 1-1 at Columbus
By Money Mike
After watching their six game unbeaten streak slip away in D.C. on Wednesday, the Seattle Sounders had to make a lot of changes in their lineup on Saturday against Columbus and they leave Columbus Crew stadium with a point after finishing level with the Columbus Crew, 1-1.
Sigi Schmid said before the game that Fredy Montero really had to step his game up, and that's what he did in the seventh minute...........
In the seventh minute, Erik Friberg sent in a cross from 35-yards to the center of the box, and Fredy Montero slipped between Crew defenders Chad Marshall and Julius James and flicked the pass into the back of the goal as Will Hesmer was coming off his line to try to clear it. Not a smart move in Hesmer's part. It was Montero's 2nd goal of the season and his 24th of his Sounders career.
Columbus had a great chance to equalize in the 32nd minute. Dilly Duka's header sent Robbie Rodgers on the break, Kasey Keller came off his line and stopped Rodgers as he tried to slide it past the goalkeeper, but Keller used to right foot to deny him.
In the 67th minute, the Crew were awarded a penalty when Chad Marshall was pulled down by Patrick Ianni on a corner kick which was taken by Eddie Gaven. Emilio Renteria stepped up to the spot and placed the shot right down the middle as Keller dived to his left. It was Keller's 2nd penalty he's faced this season. The first PK he faced was in the 2nd match of the season against the Red Bulls when he denied Thierry Henry from the spot.
Columbus had some chances to pull off a victory. In the first minute of stoppage time, Kasey Keller came up with another huge stop, denying Andres Mendoza's free-kick from 23-yards out.
The Sounders (now 3-3-4) return home for a stretch of three straight home matches, starting next Saturday against the Portland Timbers, that match kicks off at 8pm.
Scoring summary:
Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (Erik Friberg) 7'
Columbus Crew - Emilio Renteria (penalty kick) 67'
Misconduct summary:
Seattle Sounders FC - Servando Carrasco (caution; Retaliation) 38'
Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (caution; Reckless tackle) 44'
Seattle Sounders FC - Leonardo Gonzalez (caution; Reckless tackle) 53'
Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez (caution; Reckless tackle) 64'
Columbus Crew - Sebastian Miranda (caution; Reckless foul) 75'
Seattle Sounders FC - Roger Levesque (caution; Reckless tackle) 90'
Lineups:
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Leonardo Gonzalez; Erik Friberg (Nate Jaqua 66'), Osvaldo Alonso, Servando Carrasco, Alvaro Fernandez (Lamar Neagle 89'); Roger Levesque, Fredy Montero (Michael Fucito 84')
Columbus Crew - William Hesmer; Sebastian Miranda, Chad Marshall, Julius James, Rich Balchan, Rich Balchan; Dilly Duka (Andres Mendoza 61'), Kevin Burns (Emmanuel Ekpo 73'), Dejan Rusmir, Robbie Rodgers, Eddie Gaven; Emilio Renteria
Sounders pound Toronto FC 3-0. Extend unbeaten streak to 6 matches.
By Money Mike
With Steve Zakuani out, it was Brad Evans who stepped in with two goals and an assist as the Seattle Sounders shutout Toronto FC 3-0. The Sounders fans paid tribute to Zakuani by raising their #11 signs in the 11th minute and also chanting his name. The Sounders were also without O'Brian White who had blood clot surgery on his leg and Mauro Rosales was also left out of the 18-man squad. Toronto FC, coming off a win in the Canadian Championship, are now winless in 6 straight matches as they had a couple holes to fill with injuries and also with Tony Tchani suspended.
Seattle struck early in the 9th minute
when Alvaro Fernandez, who replaced Zakuani at left midfield got on the end of a Brad Evans cross, unmarked, to head the ball home for his 2nd goal of the season to give the Sounders an early 1-0 lead and they never looked back.
when Alvaro Fernandez, who replaced Zakuani at left midfield got on the end of a Brad Evans cross, unmarked, to head the ball home for his 2nd goal of the season to give the Sounders an early 1-0 lead and they never looked back.Toronto had a chance to equalize before the break when Alan Stevanovic's ball nearly resulted in a breakaway goal for Javier Martina, but his effort was blocked at the last minute by Tyson Wahl.
In the first minute of the second half, Fernandez's cross in the box fell to Fredy Montero, and with Adrian Cann backing away, Montero tried a curler with the outside of his right boot toward the far post but Stefan Frei made a terrific diving stop to deny him. A couple minutes later, a driven ball by Nate Jaqua found the foot of Brad Evans from point blank range but Frei came up huge again as Evans went for power with his left foot. TFC still had work to do though. Alvaro Fernandez's cross was headed out of the penalty area by Dicoy Williams but the ball fell to James Riley for a thumper that just grazed the top of the crossbar.
In the 52 minute, the Sounders would find the back of the net again. Fredy Montero found Brad Evans streaking behind the defense and Evans made no mistake, he hit it first time, into the far post for his 2nd of the season and he wasn't done yet. In the 75th minute, the Sounders were awarded a penalty. Erik Friberg's corner came off the hand of Mikael Yourrasowsky and referee Ricardo Salazar pointed to the penalty spot. Brad Evans then stepped up and slotted the PK into the right corner of the net to cap off a well deserved 3-0 win for the men in Rave Green as they are now unbeaten in their last six matches since starting the year 0-2 and have also won 3 of their last 4 matches.Scoring summary:
Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez (Brad Evans, James Riley) 9'
Seattle Sounders FC - Brad Evans (Fredy Montero, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado) 52'
Seattle Sounders FC - Brad Evans (penalty kick) 75'
Misconduct summary:
Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Persistant infringement) 45'
Toronto FC - Julian de Guzman (caution; Reckless tackle) 54'
Lineups:
Toronto FC - Stefan Frei; Dan Gargan, Dicoy Williams, Adrian Cann, Danleigh Borman; Julian de Guzman (Nathan Sturgis 57'), Maicon Santos (Mikael Yourrasowsky 46'), Jacob Peterson; Javier Martina, Alan Gordon, Alen Stevanovic (Matt Gold 62')
Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Patrick Ianni, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyson Wahl; Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg (Servando Carrasco 80'), Alvaro Fernandez; Nate Jaqua (Roger Levesque 72'), Fredy Montero (Michael Fucito 66')
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