Sounders defeat FC Dallas 4-2; Extend unbeaten streak to six

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders hot streak continues. On Saturday night, the Rave Green came way with their third straight win as they defeated the Western Conference leaders FC Dallas 4-2 to extend their unbeaten streak to six games. The Sounders had a 2-0 lead at halftime, but Dallas came back with two quick goals early in the second half to level the match up at two goals a piece only for the Sounders to come away with two more unanswered goals and the three points. The Sounders will have a chance at extending their unbeaten run to seven games as they travel to the Home Depot Center for a Western Conference Finals rematch against the two-time MLS Cup Champion Los Angeles Galaxy. LA is coming off a 1-0 road loss to the New York Red Bulls and have struggled a bit as of late, losing three out of their last four games. The game will take place this Sunday at 8pm on ESPN2.

With just over a quarter of an hour gone by in the match, the Sounders opened the scoring. After FC Dallas keeper Raul Fernandez cleared the ball to midfield, Ozzie Alonso headed it back into the Dallas area where Eddie Johnson was in a race with defender London Woodberry. The rookie makes a mistake by trying to reach out with his right foot for the ball and EJ makes him pay as he brings it down with his chest and puts it away with the outside of his right foot and the Sounders pick up where they left off against the Earthquakes. Scoring goals. It was Johnson's third MLS goal of the season (fourth in all competitions) and first against his former club. Woodberry had a torrid evening as the Sounders offense took him to school.

EJ nearly had a second five minutes later. Mario Martinez's outswinger from the far touchline found Johnson who outjumped Matt Hedges but couldn't direct his header on target.

In the 27th minute, Seattle had another big chance to double their lead. Mario Martinez found Brad Evans in behind the defense and as he approached the 6 yard area, he hesitated at the last second, deciding whether or not to slide the ball across to Lamar Neagle and that gave Raul Fernandez time to position himself and make the save. Evans appeared to have been offside on the pass from Martinez, but at the same time, Evans was in position to slot the ball inside the far corner with his left foot.

Evans was involved in another scoring chance for the Sounders in the 30th minute. This time, a through ball to Lamar Neagle did the trick. Neagle was fed with a perfectly timed through ball as he beat the offside trap, only had the keeper to beat, dribbles the ball around him and puts the ball inside the empty net before London Woodberry could have any chance of sliding in and breaking up the play. There was no doubt in this play, Neagle was definitely onside. Zach Loyd, the last defender, kept him on. But the question is, why the hell is Dallas trying to push all the way up and trying to play the offside trap? This time the Sounders made them pay. That was Neagle's third goal in two games and the Sounders doubled their lead.

Just shortly after, the Sounders suffered a big blow as Ozzie Alonso was forced to leave the game with in injury. Last I heard, it was a left adductor strain, but no further information as of right now. I just hope he'll be back soon.

Just over 10 minutes later, the Sounders came real close to making it three. Michael Gpsurning gathered the ball quickly threw the ball out to Mario Martinez to set Seattle on the counter. Martinez cut inside and slid the ball trough to Brad Evans for a first timed shot, but it hit the side of the net. Many thought it was in. As a matter of fact, I've seen those plays result in goals more times than not.

Seconds later, Dallas had a golden opportunity to cut the lead in half. Zach Loyd made an overlapping run and was found by Jackson. Loyd had plenty of time to take a touch and whip the ball to the near post for Blas Perez who looked to direct his header inside Michael Gpsurning's right hand post and ends up hitting the post, then off Gspurning's left hand and the rebound by Eric Hassli was saved off Gspurning's left thigh. Had Gpsurning not got a left hand to the ball, I think Kenny Cooper would've had an easy rebound.

In the 54th minute, Dallas this time were able to pull one back. The visitors look more dangerous on set pieces this year then they did last year. Mainly because of the quality that Brazilian midfielder Michel on his delivery and he showed that in this game as he curled the ball into the area for a free header from former Portland Timber forward Kenny Cooper who didn't even need to jump. All he needed to do was direct the ball on target and that's what he did and Dallas cut the Sounders lead to one.

Seattle continued to attack though and in the 59th minute, they were an inch away from making it 3-1. Mario Martinez played in another great through ball in the box, this time to Eddie Johnson who was denied a second goal by Raul Fernandez. Lamar Neagle came crashing in looking to head in the rebound but was denied with a heroic goaline stop by London Woodberry to keep it a 2-1 game. That was pretty much the only highlight of this match for Woodberry who as I mentioned earlier, had a rough night in the office.

Two minutes later, the Hoops level the match up on what is a rare feat in soccer. They call it an Olimpico Goal. I did mention the quality that Michel has on set pieces and his inswinger from the near hashmark goes directly into the far corner without touching anybody and the Sounders quickly see their two goal lead slip away with just under a half an hour to go in the match. This isn't the first time Michael Gspurning was on the back end of a Gol Olimpico. Marco Pappa scored one direct off a corner in Seattle's visit to Chicago last season. Again, Olimpico Goals are very rare, although we've seen quite a few in MLS these last couple of years. David Beckham did it a couple years ago when he was still playing for the LA Galaxy. Thierry Henry scored one direct off a corner kick last year. I already mentioned Marco Pappa. And now Michel against the Seattle Sounders.

Now I'm actually going to show you the goal...... mainly because a lot of you don't know what an Olimpico Goal is, so this video should give you an idea.



However, the match was level for only a minute because in the 62nd minute, the Men in Rave Green came right back and got their third. FC Dallas have been sloppy all night in their passing game, struggling to get the ball out of their area and once again they paid the price. Shalrie Joseph fed Lamar Neagle who turned and slid the ball through to Eddie Johnson and EJ made no mistake this time as he dribbled around Raul Fernandez and went Upper-V (which means he struck it inside the top corner of the net) for his second of the game and the Sounders just like that climb back ahead and take a 3-2 lead. This looked like a similar play where Brad Evans missed wide off a through ball from Martinez back in the first half and EJ getting denied in the second half. But this time EJ see that Fernandez is coming off his line to cut down the angle and he dribbles around him and puts it away.

In the 72nd minute, blood was drawn and the outcome was a controversial red card decision. Blas Perez and Leo Gonzalez were both going up for the ball and Perez ends up catching Gonzalez with an elbow, unintentionally though. When they showed the replay, it looked like a dangerous play and that MLS was going to review it during midweek and see if it worthy of a suspension, but when it got back to live action, referee Mark Geiger (who we've have problems with the last few times he officiated matches involving the Sounders) reached for his back pocket and pulled out the red card after a discussion with the fourth official. You see plays like this every time where players accidentally get elbowed while going up in the air for the ball and no red cards were handed out on those plays, so I think the only reason a red card was given is because Gonzalez's face was covered in blood.

In the 83rd the Sounders would get another goal to cap off another big victory. Lamar Neagle whipped in a brilliant left footed cross for Eddie Johnson to headed the ball straight at Raul Fernandez. The ball fell to Brad Evans who slid the ball to the middle for Obafemi Martins to slide it home for his third goal of the season and more importantly, to seal the Sounders third straight win as they defeat FC Dallas 4-2. The Sounders are unbeaten in their last six matches since starting the year 0-3-1 and most people would begin to think that they're a force to be force to be reckoned with up front with Eddie Johnson, Lamar Neagle and now Obafemi Martins.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 3 (Osvaldo Alonso 1) 16'

Seattle Sounders FC - Lamar Neagle 3 (Brad Evans 1) 30'

FC Dallas - Kenny Cooper 3 (Michel 4) 54'

FC Dallas - Michel 1 (Unassisted) 61'

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 4 (Lamar Neagle 1) 62'

Seattle Sounders FC - Obafemi Martins 3 (Brad Evans 2) 83'


Misconduct summary:

FC Dallas - London Woodberry (caution; foul) 43'

FC Dallas - Blas Perez (ejection; violent conduct) 73'

Seattle Sounders FC - DeAndre Yedlin (caution; time wasting) 87'


Lineups:

FC Dallas - Raul Fernandez; Zach Loyd, Matt Hedges, London Woodberry (Walker Zimmerman 85'), Jair Benitez; Jackson, Michel, Je-Vaughn Watson; Eric Hassli, Blas Perez, Kenny Cooper (Fabian Castillo 64')

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; DeAndre Yedlin, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Djimi Traore, Leonardo Gonzalez (Zach Scott 78'); Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso (Shalrie Joseph 31'), Servando Carrasco, Mario Martinez (Obafemi Martins 63'); Eddie Johnson, Lamar Neagle

"NOT AGAIN": Yes again..... Sounders snatch one late against Sporting Kansas City

SKC left standing with their heads in their hands
after conceding yet another late goal to the Sounders.

By Money Mike


Coming off a 2-2 draw in Philly, the Seattle Sounders closed out their three game road trip in Kansas City. Many exports expected SKC to come away with an easy victory. The Sounders had other plans like eh, I don't know........ scoring another late goal. That's exactly what happened. It looked like the match was going to end scoreless, but deep into stoppage time, Sporting whiffed on an attempted clearance and Djimi Traore made them pay as he scored the winning goal to give the Sounders a 1-0 victory. After an 0-3-2 start, the Sounders have picked up 7 points during this road stretch and are starting to turn things around in this early part of the season. The Sounders return home for a Saturday afternoon match against the San Jose Earthquakes. The Rave Green have a major score to settle with them, having lost the last four meetings between the two.

In the opening seconds of the game, Michael Gspurning was immediately put to the test. Zach Scott failed to clear the ball out of his own half and Jacob Peterson looked to take advantage by hitting one inside the far post, but Gspurning got down, made the save and held on before C.J. Sapong had any chance at a rebound.

In the 13th minute, Sporting tried to catch the Sounders off guard. Peterson Joseph took the corner and rather than swinging the ball into the box, he elected to play it short to Josh Gardner who slid the ball through to Graham Zusi. The idea was right, but Zusi took a heavy touch which allowed Brad Evans to get a foot to it, but Peterson Joseph stepped up and tried a curling shot to the far corner, but he didn't quite get enough bend on it.

In the 22nd minute, Seattle Sounders should've had a penalty. Zach Scott took a long throw in from the near side. His throw in just missed the head of Brad Evans and bounced off the arm of Ike Opara right in front of the goal, but nothing was given. And why not? Opara raised his arm up, the ball bounced off his arm....... Can somebody explain to me how that is not a penalty? Seconds later, play was stopped after some yelling from the Sounders bench. Referee Geoff Gamble ran over to the bench and I thought he ejected one of the Sounders assistant coaches because one of them got up immediately and argued, but it just so happened that it was backup goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann who was dismissed. Now I've never seen anything like that before. Normally if a referee goes over to eject somebody, it would be one of the coaches, but a bench player? I've never seen that. Now for those of you who are confused with the rules regarding somebody getting sent off from the bench, it's just like a player getting a red card. They're ejected from the game and are suspended for the next game. The only difference here is that Seattle doesn't have to play with 10 men because the player sent off of course, was on the bench. Another thing to add to this is now Seattle doesn't have a backup goalkeeper for the match this Saturday against the Earthquakes. So it looks like they're gonna bring in Doug Herrick who's currently contracted by the MLS League-Wide Reserve Goalkeeper Pool, which means any team can bring him up for a game if needed. Some of you remember him from last season with the Sounders U23. There's also a guy by the name of Brad Stuver who is also contracted by the MLS reserve pool, but it's likely to be Doug Herrick who will be called into the squad as an emergency backup to Michael Gspurning for this Saturday. I think this is the third time that the Sounders have had to bring in a keeper from the reserve pool. First couple weeks of the 09' season, they had to bring in Ben Dragavon to the fold when Chris Eylander was banged up and he actually came on in a match against Kansas City after Kasey Keller was sent off. The other guy they brought in was Alex Horwath in 2010. That guy didn't make an appearance however.

Alright enough talk about the goalkeeper situation, let's move to the 26 minute. The Sounders hadn't created many opportunities in this game, but they had one here. Mario Martinez chipped the ball to Brad Evans from about 20 yards out. Evans chested the ball down and tried to volley it with his left foot, but it was a weak attempt and didn't look like it was gonna test Jimmy Nielsen had it been on target.

A minute later, Nielsen nearly got caught wrong footed. Mario Martinez took the free kick from outside the penalty area, well within his shooting range. He curled the ball low and around the wall and I thought it was going in but the ball wasn't hit far enough from the goalkeeper and Nielsen got down and made the save.

Now we're gonna fast forward all the way to the 80th minute. The Seattle backline has been put under a lot of pressure all game long. Graham Zusi tried to work a give and go with Claudio Bieler, but the pass was to far for him. However, the Sounders had some trouble clearing the ball away and the attack wasn't over. Chance Myers let the ball bounce to him before he can settle and whip in a long ball into the area looking for Kei Kamara (yes, he's back from his loan stint with Norwich City). Djimi Traore got a head to it, but right to Claudio Bieler who volleyed it well wide. I think that was their first shot attempt of the second half despite all the pressure they put on the Sounders back line.

A couple minutes later, Kei Kamara took on Leo Gonzalez from the near side and sent a low driven ball into the area where he had C.J. Sapong lurking, but his cross was too close to Michael Gspurning.

Now lets fast forward deep into stoppage time. Remember the stoppage time goal by Mike Fucito in 2010? Or the one by Jeff Parke in 2011? Hell, what about the two stoppage time goals by Mauro Rosales and Lamar Neagle later on in 2011 at Sporting Park? Well, in the final seconds of stoppage time (more time was added because of an injury delay), the Sounders burn them again. Zach Scott rather than throwing it long towards goal, he purposefully threw it short to Brad Evans who flicked the ball across and after Aurelien Collin whiffed on his attempted clearance which would've ended the game there, the ball bounced to Djimi Traore who turned and smashed it home and the Sounders steal one from Sporting Kansas City yet again. There were a few appeals that Traore touched it with his hand, but if the referee called handball on that play, then he should've called handball on Opara. Also, Traore didn't touch the ball with his hand, it bounced off his knee. So if any of you think that was a handball, you better go back and watch it over and over again. Nothing was called anyway, the goal stood and the Sounders win 1-0.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Djimi Traore 1 (Unassisted) 94'+


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Marcus Hahnemann (dismissed; dissent) 24'

Sporting Kansas City - Ike Opara (caution; foul) 45'

Sporting Kansas City - Aurelien Collin (caution; foul) 91'+


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Zach Scott, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Djimi Traore, Leonardo Gonzalez; Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Servando Carrasco, Mario Martinez (Alex Caskey 93'+); Eddie Johnson, David Estrada (Mauro Rosales 85')

Sporting Kansas City - Jimmy Nielsen; Chance Myers, Aurelien Collin, Ike Opara, Josh Gardner (Seth Sinovic 75'); Benny Feilhaber (Claudio Bieler 66'), Oriol Rosell, Peterson Joseph; Graham Zusi, C.J. Sapong, Jacob Peterson (Kei Kamara 73')

Sounders come away with only a point after a couple of controversial decisions

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders were 30 second away from their first win since May 9th and clearly this was a match where they clearly deserved all three points. However, a missed call by the linesman as well as a blown call in the final seconds of stoppage time in the second half led to New England scoring two goals and the Sounders came away with only a point after drawing with the New England Revolution 2-2 in Foxborough. The Sounders winless streak has now extended to eight games when it clearly should've come to an end.

The Revs were the dominant side the first quarter of an hour of the match and they had a chance from inside the area in the sixth minute. Chris Tierney curled the ball toward the near post for Blake Brettschneider, but he couldn't get a head to it. The ball fell nicely for Saer Sene, but he skied his shot well over the bar.

Three minutes later, the Revs skied another one. This time it was Clyde Simms with the opportunity as the chased down a loose ball in the box, but he started to stumble as he got the shot away which resulted in the ball sailing over the top.

In the 12th minute, here was the first goal that the assistant referee messed up on. Blake Brettschneider took a shot that was blocked by Patrick Ianni or Marc Burch, but anyway Brettschneider got it back after Burch failed to clear the ball out of danger and squared the ball across to a wide open Saer Sene who tapped the ball into an empty net but this goal shouldn't have counted because he was in an offside position when the ball was played to him. I don't know what the assistant referee was looking at, because Sene was clarly offsides and the linesman kept his flag down so the goal counted and the Sounders for the eighth straight match found themselves trailing 1-0.

In the 23rd minute, the Sounders would pull one back and level this match up. Florian Lechner went for the switch instead of clearing the ball into the Sounders half and Adam Johansson would head the ball back into the danger area. Lechner had another opportunity to clear, but Mauro Rosales poked the ball away and sent a beautiful curling ball into the area for a snap header by Eddie Johnson and there was no way he was gonna miss from there. It was Johnson's sixth goal of the season and his third goal in the last four matches. More importantly, it brought the Sounders back level at a goal a peice.

In the 35th minute, Johnson would add another goal to his stat. Mauro Rosales's cross was intended for Johnson, but that sailed over everyone. However, right there to chase the ball down was Marc Burch. Burch curled the ball back into the area and Matt Reis makes a terrible decision here as he came a few steps off his line to try to secure that cross and the ball sailed over his hands and right to the head of Eddie Johnson for his second goal of the game and his seventh of the season to put the Sounders ahead 2-1.

In the second half, Bryan Meredith had to come on to replace Andrew Weber in goal after Weber suffered a thigh injury late in the first half. This is the second time Meredith came off the bench to start the second half and it was also his ninth appearance of the season. He quickly got in on the act in the 47th minute, making a save on a volley by Lee Nguyen.

In the 88th minute, Meredith had to make another save. Benny Feilhaber snuck the ball through for Fernando Cardenas who looked to slot the ball inside the far post but from the position he was in, there was no way he was gonna convert.

In the final seconds of stoppage time, this goal pisses me off just as much as the first one did because the Revolution shouldn't have been given a chance to go forward in the first place. The Sounders were playing keep away in New Englands half, now Alvaro Fernandez was tripped up by a New England player. I mean Flaco was trying to keep the ball and kill off the remaining seconds and he gets tripped up and the assistant referee spotted it, but he says it was a foul on Fernandez. Are you fucking kidding me? It was a clear foul on the Revs, which would've given the Sounders a chance a kill off the remaining seconds of stoppage time, game over, Sounders win, winless streak over. But they gave New England the free kick and it leads to this. Fernando Cardenas curls the ball into the area for Diego Fagundez who heads the ball past Bryan Meredith and the Sounders get robbed of a victory that they obviously deserved after the officials missed an offside on the first goal and made a bullshit call in the final seconds. The Sounders won this match, it's as simple as that.


Scoring summary:

New England Revolution - Saer Sene 8 (Blake Brettschneider 1) 12'

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 6 (Mauro Rosales 4) 23'

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 7 (Marc Burch 2) 35'

New England Revolution - Diego Fagundez 1 (Fernando Cardenas 2) 94'+


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Andy Rose (caution; foul) 18'

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; foul) 50'

Seattle Sounders FC - Leo Gonzalez (caution; foul) 90'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Andrew Weber (Bryan Meredith 46'); Adam Johansson, Patrick Ianni, Zach Scott, Marc Burch; Brad Evans (Alvaro Fernandez 56'), Osvaldo Alonso, Andy Rose, Alex Caskey (Leo Gonzalez 80'); Mauro Rosales, Eddie Johnson

New England Revolution - Matt Reis; Florian Lechner (Diego Fagundez 81'), A.J. Soares, Stephen McCarthy, Chris Tierney; Benny Feilhaber, Clyde Simms (Kelyn Rowe 64'), Shalrie Joseph, Lee Nguyen; Blake Brettschneider (Fernando Cardenas 19'), Saer Sene

Sounders and Sporting KC finish all square in an evenly played match

By Money Mike


The Sounders winless streak now sits at six matches and they are still due to get their first win since May 9th. Last night the Sounders came away with only a point after a 1-1 draw at home against Sporting Kansas City. It was a physical game from start to finish with a few controversial moments in this match. If the Sounders want to end their six match winless run, they'll have to get past their arch rival the Portland Timbers on their home ground this Sunday which will be the first of three straight on the road before they return home for a match on July 7th against the Colorado Rapids.

In the 8th minute, it was the visitors who opened the scoring. Jacob Peterson's long throw in found Aurelien Collin who barely got a piece of the ball with his head. Jeff Parke tried to head the ball clear, but Collin outjumped Zach Scott and flicked the ball back for Peterson for a right footed volley which I think deflected off Ozzie Alonso's foot and inside the far post. Unlucky for the Sounders. Had the shot not been deflected, it might have sailed over the bar or wide of the far post. I don't know, but the deflection went Sporting KC's way and there was nothing goalkeeper Andrew Weber could've done.

That lead didn't last long as the Sounders got one back in the 15th minute with a potential goal of the year candidate. Mauro Rosales curled his free kick to the far post, now Patrick Ianni had to come back for it because the cross was drifting behind him. He comes back for it and what does he do? He jumps up and side volleys it into the net to level this match at one. There was absolutely nothing Jimmy Neilsen could do but bitch at his defenders because they did a crappy job defending this set play. Michael Harrington was supposed to be marking Ianni and he got caught at the last second. Set pieces are one of the biggest keys to victory for every team. What a way for Ianni to cap off a return from injury by scoring one of the goals of the year. This was also his 100th MLS appearance of his career.

A minute later, this one should've been a red card. Aurelien Collin took down Mauro Rosales, who looked to have had a breakaway opportunity had he avoided the sliding challenge, and referee Jair Marrufo decided that it was only a yellow card. I don't know if it was because he thought there was another Sporting KC defender in the area and there could've been but that's ridiculous, Rosales would've been clear so that should've been a Red Card. Another thing is Marrufo later on in the match did a horrible job keeping both teams under control. Since that yellow card, Collin has been acting like a damn jackass all game and the referee doesn't do anything about it.

In the 19th minute, the Sounders dodged a huge bullet. Roger Espinoza found Soony Saad making a run in behind Zach Scott and played a good ball in for him. Saad struck it first time from almost a tight angle, but the crossbar saves Seattle from falling behind for the second time in the match.

In the 29th minute, the Sounders nearly made Sporting pay for some crappy defending of their own. Ozzie Alonso found Eddie Johnson who had loads of space. Aurelien Collin was the only player back for KC. Johnson did have Fredy Montero in support, but he went for it himself and just missed wide by inches. Johnson probably should've played the ball to Montero who was onside and perhaps had a better chance at putting the Sounders ahead. On the other side, where were the KC defenders? Why was Johnson given all the time and space on that play? Had the Sounders scored, I think Lawrence Olum would've taken the blame because he overcommited and Alonso read it perfectly and found Eddie Johnson. One thing I might want to ask myself is, why was Lawrence Olum given the start at center half? As far as I know by watching him during his time in the USL, he's been used as a holding midfielder. That's from what I've seen though.

In the 61st minute, the Sounders come close again. Mauro Rosales played an excellent ball to Alex Caskey who was onside and was clear of goal. Caskey was looking to put it inside the left post, but again it just rolls wide.

In the 88th minute, I don't even know what happened or how Jimmy Nielsen spilled this one but a crowd of over 46,000 and most of the viewers in Seattle, KC and other viewers around the nation watching on Direct Kick or MLS Live thought the Sounders snatched another victory against Sporting. Andy Rose's cross found Fredy Montero at the far post. Montero cut to his left foot and I don't know if this was a low cross or if Montero was trying to score, but the ball deflected off Chance Myers and it looked to be an easy gather for Nielsen but he let the ball go through him and it bounced off the far post and cleared by Lawrence Olum before Ozzie Alonso could put home the rebound. A couple seconds later, Zach Scott was booked for shoving C.J. Sapong into the boards and tempers began to flare on both sides.

In the second minute of stoppage time, the Sounders were reduced to 10 men for the second straight match. Alvaro Fernandez looked like he was fouled by Roger Espinoza, but the referee didn't call that and Fernandez retaliates and comes in with a dangerous challenge and Jair Marrufo wasted no time going to his back pocket and giving Flaco a Red Card and that summed up how the Sounders felt about the officiating in this game.


Observations:

I was looking forward to seeing Steve Zakuani make his return for over a year since he suffered a broken leg in the early stages of last season, but Sigi Schmid decided to bring on Alvaro Fernandez instead and a few minutes later he gets sent off. The fact that everybody was excited that Zak was in the 18 man squad, looking forward to his return and then being left on the bench was a little disappointing. At the same time, I think it was the right decision to keep him on the bench because of the way things have gone late in the match.

Here's what Sigi said regarding why he didn't bring in Zakuani....

"It had less to do with Zakuani's length of injury or coming back. I just thought the game last night, the referee really didn't have control of the game; there was a lot of extracurricular activities going on off the ball that weren't called. To put Steve into that sort of game I didn't think was going to be a good situation because there was a lot of reckless abandon, let me put it that way, when people went into tackles. It wasn't so much a reflection of where Steve was at. It was more a reflection of the game. It's not a case of the game being aggressive or physical and that part; he's not going to shy away from that. I'm not worried about it in that sort of game, but I thought it was a game that to be quite honest had gotten out of control."

To be honest here, I think Sigi had a point. The game was completely out of control, especially late in the match with all the pushing and shoving and the fact that the referee didn't do his job and made some poor decisions. As for Aurelien Collin, I've already said enough. That guy's a prick.

I think moving Mauro Rosales to an attacking midfield position was the right move by Sigi. I thought Rosales had his best performance in quite a while. He's been able to make more plays on the ball, put more pressure on the central defenders and he also picked up an assist. Sure it was on a free kick, but still this was his best performance since the Philadelphia game on May 5th in which he scored the only goal of the match. I thought Brad Evans looked good on the right side of midfield, getting a few early touches at the start of the match. I'm still not overly impressed with Evans, but I think he's looked better playing on the right side than in the center. That goes for Mauro Rosales being in the center of midfield than on the right. I think they should stick with this lineup against the Timbers on Sunday because now they were able to find some openings and really put some pressure on the opposition.

I wasn't surprised to see Andrew Weber in goal for the Sounders after Bryan Meredith's struggles in these last couple games and Michael Gspurning not fully recovered yet. There were some nervous moments though, not because this was his first game for the Sounders and his third overall in MLS, but because Sporting Kansas City is a great attacking team with guys like Kei Kamara, Teal Bunbury, C.J. Sapong and Graham Zusi. Of course Kamara, Sapong and Zusi didn't start but they still looked dangerous offensively. Anyway, I thought Weber did a great job making some good saves and communicating with his defense. I'm expecting him to get the nod again this Sunday when the Sounders travel to take on the Timbers.

I wasn't overly happy with just a draw, especially with all the crap going on at the end of the game. At the same time, I think it's a step forward for this team because they looked a lot better offensively and defensively than they did in their last five games. If you're some stupid idiot like some user on SeattleTimes named "Cougforlife2011" who know's absolutely nothing about this team and just says the same ridiculous thing over and over again, "Softest team in MLS", "The front office is worse than the Mariners" (Give me a damn break), than I wouldn't be surprised if you don't agree with me on this. If you don't agree on this, that's fine but at least have a better explanation that what we keep getting with this user on SeattleTimes who can't get his facts straight. This guy is like Joe Queenan from the Wall Street Journal except Queenan trashed American soccer with false information. Anyway, if the Sounders stick with this formation in their next with Rosales in the center of midfield and Evans on the right, I think they'll come away with a better result and put an end to their six game winless streak. One win will surely change things for the Sounders as they look to get back in title contention.


Scoring summary:

Sporting Kansas City - Jacob Peterson 1 (Aurelien Collin 1) 8'

Seattle Sounders FC - Patrick Ianni 1 (Mauro Rosales 3) 15'


Misconduct summary:

Sporting Kansas City - Aurelien Collin (caution; foul) 16'

Sporting Kansas City - Lawrence Olum (caution; foul) 48'

Sporting Kansas City - Jimmy Nielsen (caution; time wasting) 59'

Seattle Sounders FC - Zach Scott (caution; foul) 59'

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez (ejection; foul) 92'+


Lineups:

Sporting Kansas City - Jimmy Nielsen; Chance Myers, Aurelien Collin, Lawrence Olum, Michael Harrington; Michael Thomas, Peterson Joseph (Graham Zusi 50'), Roger Espinoza; Jacob Peterson (Kei Kamara 65'), Teal Bunbury, Soony Saad (C.J. Sapong 86')

Seattle Sounders FC - Andrew Weber; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Marc Burch; Brad Evans (Andy Rose 72'), Osvaldo Alonso, Mauro Rosales (Alvaro Fernandez 80'), Alex Caskey; Eddie Johnson (Sammy Ochoa 80'), Fredy Montero

Sounders show up unprepared and get hit hard against Montreal

By Money Mike


Coming off a much needed break, the Seattle Sounders were expected to come out with high energy and a lot of confidence following their two Open Cup victories. Instead, they show up like they weren't even ready for this match and end up losing 4-1 to the Montreal Impact in their Stade Saputo opener. The Sounders winless run now sits at five games, which now begins to raise a few questions and concerns about this team leading up to the Summer Transfer Period next Wednesday. The Sounders need to find an answer in their next match at home this Wednesday against Sporting Kansas City.

Not much action in the first quarter of an hour of the game, but in the 18th minute the Impact got things going. Patrice Bernier was spotted down the right hand side. The veteran decided to have a go against Zach Scott instead of chipping the ball into the penalty area as he maneuvered around Scott and poked the ball to the top of the area for Felipe Martins who curled a shot to the far post and there was nothing Bryan Meredith could do about that one as Felipe bagged his second of the season and the first at Saputo Stadium to give the Impact a 1-0 lead.

The Sounders began to show signs of life in the first half and they nearly got the equalizer in the 39th minute as Mauro Rosales took the corner kick for the Sounders. The ball was flicked towards goal by Eddie Johnson where Fredy Montero was waiting, but Donovan Ricketts denied any opportunity of Montero getting to the end of that.

In the 50th minute, the Impact would double their advantage. It was Patrice Bernier setting up another goal for Montreal, this time to Justin Mapp as he made a great run past Zach Scoot, who had a terrible game, and slid the ball inside the left post to make it 2-0 to the Impact.

Seven minutes later, things just went from bad to worse for the Seattle Sounders. Defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado looked like he was reaching for the ball and he tripped up Collen Warner for the foul. Now normally this would be a yellow card, but for some reason referee Mark Geiger went to his back pocket and pulled out a red card. I don't understand this one, his studs were not exposed, he was trying to play the ball. Terrible decision by the referee. Another thing was the Sounders had 24 hours to appeal the red card on Hurtado and they didn't appeal, so Hurtado will be suspended for the home match on Wednesday against Kansas City.

Shortly after, Montreal started to run away with this game and once again it was Patrice Bernier setting up the third goal. Bernier flicked the ball over his shoulder and slotted the ball through to the no. 1 draft pick Andrew Wenger and the 2011 Hermann Trophy winner struck in first time inside the near post for his third goal of the season, to put the match out of reach. I think this was a shot that Bryan Meredith probably should've stopped. I tell you what, this guy has stuggled over the last couple of games making saves, communicating with his defenders, etc. Which begins to raise more questions if they should keep him in net or turn to Andrew Weber or Josh Ford until Michael Gspurning is fully recovered. Gspurning was targeting a June 16th return but he had a bit of a setback and probably won't be ready until June 30th, if not July 4th.

Three minutes later, the Sounders would pull one back. Fredy Montero slid the ball through to Eddie Johnson who beat Jeb Brovsky to the ball and chipped the ball over Donovan Ricketts and into the back of the net for his fourth goal in 2012.

In the 87th minute, Montreal would add a fourth and it the former Sounder Lamar Neagle. Neagle sprinted away from Jeff Parke into the penalty area and either Brad Evans and Marc Burch were supposed the clear the ball. Instead, there was some miscommunication and Lamar Neagle slammed the ball into the net and slammed the door in this game as the Impact walked away with a 4-1 win.


Scoring summary:

Montreal Impact - Felipe Martins 2 (Patrice Bernier 2) 18'

Montreal Impact - Justin Mapp 2 (Patrice Bernier 3) 51'

Montreal Impact - Andrew Wenger 3 (Patrice Bernier 4) 58'

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 4 (Fredy Montero 4) 61'

Montreal Impact - Lamar Neagle 1 (unassisted) 87'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Jeff Parke (caution; foul) 22'

Seattle Sounders FC - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (ejection; foul) 56'

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson (caution; foul) 70'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (caution; foul) 76'

Montreal Impact - Shavar Thomas (caution; foul) 79'

Montreal Impact - Nelson Rivas (caution; foul) 85'


Lineup:

Seattle Sounders FC - Bryan Meredith; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch; Mauro Rosales (Cordell Cato 71'), Andy Rose, Brad Evans, Alvaro Fernandez (Alex Caskey 62'); Eddie Johnson (Servando Carrasco 82'), Fredy Montero

Montreal Impact - Donovan Ricketts; Zarek Valentin, Nelson Rivas, Matteo Ferrari (Shavar Thomas 33'), Jeb Brovsky; Davy Arnaud, Collen Warner, Patrice Bernier (Bernardo Corradi 77'), Felipe Martins, Justin Mapp (Lamar Neagle 62'); Andrew Wenger

Sounders come away with nothing this time, lose 1-0 to San Jose

By Money Mike


After winning their first two matches of the season the Seattle Sounders came into this match with alot of confidence, but sometimes confidence isn't good enough. The Sounders found themselves on the losing end, falling 1-0 to the San Jose Earthquakes. The Sounders hit the road next Saturday in the nations capital as they face D.C. United who are coming off their first win of the season, defeating FC Dallas 4-1. It was a poorly played game from both sides and the Sounders deserved no more than a point out of this, but a horrible PK decision midway through the first half made sure that didn't happen. Seattle will have to shake this one off and turn their attention to their match next Saturday at D.C.

Seattle did start of brightly in the early minutes. In the 10th minute after San Jose struggled to clear the ball out of danger, Osvaldo Alonso stepped and sent in a driven ball to the middle of the penalty area for Fredy Montero who just headed it over the top.

In the 17th minute, San Jose nearly caught the Sounders on the break. Chris Wondolowski found Steven Beitashour making a brilliant overlapping run from the back. Beitashour whipped in a short cross which bounced to the far post for Steven Lenhart who forced a save from Michael Gspurning who then pounced on the ball and held on to prevent Chris Wondolowski from putting home the rebound.

Now as I said on my preview, Alvaro Fernandez was fined for embellishment in last weeks match. The MLS Disciplinary Committee better fine Steven Lenhart as well for this crap in the 23rd minute. Marc Burch stuck his leg out and there was very little to no contact on the play. It was a clear dive by Lenhart but referee Mark Kadlecik decides to point to the penalty spot and award a PK to the Quakes. I hate making excuses here but that was a horrible call by the referee. I'm just getting sick and tired of the fact that referee's end up deciding the game.

Chris Wondolowski stepped up to take the PK for San Jose. Michael Gspurning has made some key penalty saves during his career. However, Wondo overpowered him and put it inside the right post for his fourth of the season and to give San Jose the lead in Seattle.

In the 35th minute, Zach Scott, who got the start again at right back for the injured Adam Johansson, sent in a cross into the six yard box where four Sounder players were waiting. The ball found the head of Alonso who headed it just wide of the near post.

The Sounders continued to push at the start of the second half. In the 51st minute, Osvaldo Alonso found David Estrada who turned, got away from Sam Cronin and had a go from about 25 yards away, but it didn't really test goalkeeper Jon Busch. Estrada who scored four goals in his first two matches was really quiet in the first half and trying to get it going in the second half.

Six minutes later, the Quakes nearly capitalized on a mistake. Servando Carrasco gave the ball away to Sam Cronin who stepped away from Patrick Ianni, but just missed wide as he looked to slot into the far corner.

In the 83rd minute, Fredy Montero and Sammy Ochoa liked up very well on this play and Montero looked to curl this one into the far corner but Jon Busch came up huge yet again. That was just about the last real opportunity for the Sounders as the breaks just weren't going their way like they were last match.


Scoring summary:

San Jose Earthquakes - Chris Wondolowski 4 (penalty kick) 24'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; foul) 6'

Seattle Sounders FC - Christian Sivebaek (caution; Persisten infringement) 47'+

San Jose Earthquakes - Rafael Baca (caution; foul) 64'

San Jose Earthquakes - Steven Lenhart (caution; Time wasting) 64'

Seattle Sounders FC - Zach Scott (caution; foul) 81'

San Jose Earthquakes - Alan Gordon (caution; foul) 83'


Lineups:

San Jose Earthquakes - Jon Busch; Steven Beitashour, Victor Bernardez, Justin Morrow, Ramiro Corrales (Jason Hernandez 46'); Marvin Chavez (Simon Dawkins 89'), Sam Cronin, Rafael Baca, Shea Salinas; Steven Lenhart (Alan Gordon 67'), Chris Wondolowski

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Zach Scott, Patrick Ianni, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Jeff Parke 46'), Marc Burch; Christian Sivebaek (Sammy Ochoa 62'), Osvaldo Alonso, Servando Carrasco (Alex Caskey 74'), Alvaro Fernandez; David Estrada, Fredy Montero

Sounders get set to host the Houston Dynamo

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders take on the Houston Dynamo in their second of three straight home matches to start the season. The match will kick off tomorrow at 7pm as NBC Sports Network makes their first trip to the Emerald City. Much like what Sporting KC went through last season, the Dynamo face a long road swing to start the year. The Dynamo will be on the road until May 12th when they open up the new BBVA Compass Stadium against D.C. United. Houston won their first two matches, however they didn't look too good in their last match against San Jose. It's important that the Sounders play their game and put pressure on the back line immediately. This will be the only meeting between these two teams this season. In nine all-time meetings, including the two games in the MLS Cup Playoffs and a U.S. Open Cup semifinal, the road team has never taken the full three points.


Injury report:

Houston Dynamo - The only injury update I have right now for the Dynamo is Corey Ashe is listed as probable, he strained his left hammie prior to the start of the season.

Seattle Sounders FC - Well we have a big list here. Of course the guys that are out are Josh Ford, Andrew Duran, Michael Tetteh, Steve Zakuani and O'Brian White. Mauro Rosales will be out for a couple of weeks after he picked up another knee injury last week. Some ridiculous fan on SeattleTimes complained about him flopping and I don't understand this. Out of all the matches I've seen him play, not once have I ever seen him flop. It was obvious, that he was kicked in the knee intentionally and the referee did nothing out it. And I can tell that fan clearly doesn't know what a flop is, but anyway, Rosales is out. Look for Christian Sivebaek to get the start on the right. Eddie Johnson did get some practice time in for the team this week after he sat out last week with a hip flexor injury, but he might sit out again this week. Right now, he's listed as doubtful. And finally, Adam Johannson will be a game-time decision after he sustained a hamstring injury during practice on Tuesday. Hopefully he'll be a go for tomorrow.

By the way, earlier today, the Sounders bought out O'Brian White's contract for 2012, so he will no longer occupy a roster spot or count against the Salary Budget. White has been dealing with multiple blood clot sergeries in his leg. It looked like he would return in the middle of 2011, but he suffered a setback and now it looks like his tenure with the Sounders is just about over.


International absenses:

Houston Dynamo - Alright, currently away on international duty for the Dynamo is Kofi Sarkodie who is currently with the U.S. under-23 national team for the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying tournament which kicked off today. By the way, the U.S. won their first match 6-0 over Cuba.

Seattle Sounders FC - The Sounders have two guys away for the same reason. Rookie Babayele Sodade is currently with Canada, who kicked off their campaign against El Salvador. Unfortunetly, he was left on the bench. The other guy is Cordell Cato with Trinidad and Tobago who kick off their campaign tomorrow against Mexico.


Key matchup:

Alvaro Fernandez vs Andre Hainault - This is the only key matchup I have for this one and this is the matchup that I think will decide this game. So far in this young season, Ferandez has been a playmaker on the left side of midfield. If he can get Andre Hainault backpeddling here, that means Geoff Cameron is gonna have to come over from his central defensive position and help out and if Cameron slides over, that would leave room for David Estrada or Fredy Montero to run diaginally across the Dynamo box. San Jose and Chivas haven't managed that, if Seattle does, that would increase their chances of winning. Fernandez has done all the dirty work while Steve Zakuani has been out recovering from his fractured leg and looking to get back to full fitness and I'm pretty sure Zakuani would've had the same job against this Houston Dynamo back four.

Mauro Rosales suffers a late injury as the Sounders win 3-0

By Money Mike

The Seattle Sounders are back to their winning ways as they give D.C. United an ass beating in front of 36,242 fans in attendance at CenturyLink Field. The Sounders defeated D.C. United by a score of 3-0 and remain in second place, now three points ahead of Real Salt Lake, but here's the problem, RSL have two games in hand so they're going to need lots of help to secure home field advantage in the quarterfinals. The Sounders could've clinched a playoff birth had both the Portland Timbers and the Houston Dynamo lost this week, but the Dynamo drew 2-2 at Columbus and defeated the San Jose Earthquakes 2-1 and the Timbers blinked the New England Revolution 3-0. A lot of folks are starting to get nervous in the closing stages of the season, teams fighting for the Wild Card spot, the first round bye and also for Home Field advantage in the playoffs.

The Sounders nearly broke through in the 30th minute. Tyson Wahl's inswinger from the corner found the head of Alvaro Fernandez at the near post, who flicked it back to the far post for Fredy Montero but it was just out of his reach.

The Sounders would find the breakthrough in the 35th minute. Mike Fucito took a pass from Mauro Rosales and immediately turned past Brandon McDonald to break free of rookie keeper Joe Willis. Fucito took a couple of touches and calmly found the left side of the goal with his right foot to put the Sounders up 1-0.

In the 43rd minute, D.C. United tried to answer back when Andy Najar was clean through after getting past Ozzie Alonso and Tyson Wahl, but Zach Scott was in the way of his shot that was goal bound.

In first half stoppage time, the Sounders doubled their lead to 2-0. Mauro Rosales found Alvaro Fernandez making a run behind Daniel Woolard with a sublime pass and "El Flacco" tapped it home beautifully with his right foot. Fernandez would get another in the 60th minute. Rosales was the set up man again. A majestic from the right side found Fredy Montero in stride. Joe Willis made the initial save, but Fernandez was there to pound in the Rebound for his 8th goal of the season. D.C. United were without Chris Pontius who suffered a broken leg last week at Chivas USA. In replace, head coach Ben Olsen decided to give Austin da Luz his first start in a D.C. United uniform since he was acquired in a midseason trade with the New York Red Bulls. The funny thing is, his last appearance with the Red Bulls was here in Seattle.

Well this is the last thing you want to see late in the game, just as your team is playing well. In about the 89th minute, D.C. United defender Daniel Woolard stepped on Mauro Rosales's foot and Rosales awkwardly turned something in his knee. He had to leave the game after suffering what was confirmed to be an MCL Sprain. Rosales will have an MRI on Monday to determine whether the injury is mild or moderate. And not is it referee Kevin Stott's job to ref a match, it's his job to keep the god damn players under control. If you're letting players make a bunch of dangerous challenges that could the opposing players season/career at risk, then you're doing a terrible job. Seattle keeps getting victimized by the players and the refs don't do anything but kick the Sounders players out of a game for no reason. That's pretty much the reason for the majority of their losses because Major League Soccer has so many Crappy refs and we already added last weeks referee to that list and Kevin Stott has been on that list for god only knows how long.

After the game, head coach Sigi Schmid said, "The league's got to start protecting him. The last two games teams have gone out there and kicked him, and I don't think the referees have done a good job protecting him. Today was a case in point. We're up on top of the game 3-0 and he's got the ball at his feet and it's a tackle that's just meant to get a little kick in. And who knows how long he's out now? We have a talented player in this league, a player who's a good player, who fans want to come and watch play, then we let thugs hit him and we don't protect him enough. I think that's something that's got to happen with the referees. I'm very disappointed with the last two games. The last game before this one, the first three times he touched the ball he got fouled and nothing got called. Today early on he got dumped and quite a few times he's not getting calls. I'd like to see the referee Kevin Stott stand there and let Brandon McDonald run into his back and see if he could stay on his feet. I'm very disappointed in that."

The Sounders have 5 games remaining in the regular season before the MLS Cup playoffs. They step aside MLS play on Tuesday for matchday 4 of the CONCACAF Champions League at home against C.S. Herediano. A win will surely put them through to the Champions League Quarterfinal which will take place sometime in February. After that they head North of the Border to Empire Field in Vancouver, B.C. to take on the Vancouver Whitecaps, and I believe that'll be the Whitecaps last game at Empire Field before they make BC Place (which was the host of both the Opening/Closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics) their new home.

The Sounders won't be back at home until October 4th when they take on the Chicago Fire in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final at CenturyLink Field. I will be attending that match as Seattle look to become the first team since Greek American Atlas Astoria to win their third straight U.S. Open Cup title.

Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Mike Fucito 2 (Mauro Rosales 11, Brad Evans 2) 35'

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez 7 (Mauro Rosales 12, Fredy Montero 8) 47'+

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez 8 (unassisted) 60'

Misconduct summary:

D.C. United - Joseph Ngwenya (caution; Reckless tackle) 16'

Seattle Sounders FC - Tyson Wahl (caution; Reckless foul) 41'

D.C. United - Austin da Luz (caution; Reckless foul) 63'

Lineups:

D.C. United - Joe Willis; Perry Kitchen, Ethan White (Marc Burch 78'), Brandon McDonald, Daniel Woolard; Andy Najar, Clyde Simms, Dwayne De Rosario (Josh Wolff 62'), Austin da Luz; Charlie Davies (Stephen King 64'), Joseph Ngwenya

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Zach Scott, Tyson Wahl; Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans (Amadou Sanyang 82'), Alvaro Fernandez; Mike Fucito (Nate Jaqua 68'), Fredy Montero (Lamar Neagle 78')

Kasey Keller comes up huge in the final seconds to salvage a big win for the Sounders.

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

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')

Sounders rally with three second half goals. Defeat Rapids 4-3.

By Money Mike

The 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 vs Red Bulls preview

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders return home for a Thursday night matchup at "CenturyLink" Field (yeah Qwest changed their name) against the New York Red Bulls. Last week the Sounders came away with all 3 points after defeating Toronto FC 1-0 with Fredy Montero scoring a late Free Kick goal in the 90th minute. On the other side, despite a Red Card issued to Thierry Henry in stoppage time, the Red Bulls managed to get a late goal from Dwayne De Rosario from the penalty spot to complete the comeback against the Portland Timbers. The match ended 3-3. The Red Bulls have so many pieces missing with a player suspended (Thierry Henry), players still in the Gold Cup (Juan Agudelo, Tim Ream and Rafa Marquez) and players out injured.


Injury report:

New York Red Bulls - For the Red Bulls, I'm not sure Carl Robinson's right knee contusion or Chris Albright's hernia surgery are a big blow to the team. One that's definitely a blow is Luke Rodgers out with a Left foot plantar fascitits.

Seattle Sounders FC - For the Men in Rave Green. Zakuani and White, you should know about them. Brad Evans has been added to the list with a Bruised ankle. He will not be seen tomorrow.


Suspensions:

New York Red Bulls - This was sort off bullshit because this was already worked out. Thierry Henry was sent off for no reason. He went at it with Adam Moffit of the Portland Timbers, but they shook hands, which is good sportsmanship, but then referee Ricardo Salazar went to his back pocket and gave Thierry Henry a Red Card and Moffit a Yellow. That's just ridiculous, doing something like that over a thing that was already taken care of between the players... that's just starting trouble. Thierry Henry wouldn't have got the start anyway I don't think, but still, that was ridiculous.

Seattle Sounders FC - I'm not going to bring this one up again, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. Apparently they didn't appeal his suspension so he will not be seen on Thursday.


International absences:

New York Red Bulls - Juan Agudelo and Tim Ream are still with USA in the Gold Cup. By the way, USA defeated Panama 1-0, so they're in the final. Also Rafa Marquez for Mexico, who look to be headed to the final. It looks like another USA-Mexico matchup.

Seattle Sounders FC - For Seattle uhh........... Well, they have nobody, which is a good thing especially because this team is so jacked up.


Key matchup:

Red Bulls attacking front vs Sounders back line - Looking at the reports it looks like they're going partner up Dwayne De Rosario with Dane Richards. De Rosario is used to playing as an attacking midfielder so he can get more time on the ball as well as score more goals, which has worked out very well. Dane Richards is a winger. They're gonna be under a lot of pressure from the Sounders back line.