NEAGLE IS BACK: Sounders reacquire Federal Way Native from Montreal

By Money Mike


Earlier today there was a tweet saying that there was going to be a roster move made by the Sounders with a player coming to the Emerald City. Out of all the players over thinking, hoping, or expecting, I don't think anyone would've predicted the return of this man. The Seattle Sounders reacquired Lamar Neagle from the Montreal Impact in exchange for an international roster slot. The Sounders now have seven international slots and four of them are currently occupied by Andy Rose, Adam Johansson, Christian Tiffert and Mario Martinez. Neagle rejoins the Sounders for a third stint and will surely be with the Rave Green for more than a year, unlike his first two stints with Seattle. Last February, the Sounders traded Neagle to the Montreal Impact along with Mike Fucito in exchange for Eddie Johnson in what almost the entire Sounder nation considered to be a dumbass move because of his horrible stint in Europe and his lack of form, but EJ proved everybody wrong with he scored 17 goals in 38 appearances in all competitions for the Sounders.

So as all of you know, Neagle has been in and out of this roster these past five years. He signed with the Sounders in 2009 as a Developmental player (not a Homegrown player), however he didn't made an appearance for the Sounders in 09' and was released. In 2010, he joined the Charleston Battery of the USL Second Division and led them to their third League Championship in club history. He made 19 appearances that year and led the league with 12 goals and also recorded an assisted. He also scored in the USL Second Division final that turned out to be the game winner. Following that, he moved to IFK Mariehamn in Finland for a short stint and scored two goals in five appearances. After his stint in Finland, Neagle returned to Seattle on trial and ended up signing a contract with the Sounders after impressing the Sounders coaching staff during preseason. At the start, people weren't expecting to see much of Lamar Neagle in 2011 but after Steve Zakuani suffered a double fracture at the hands of Brian Mullan, Neagle stepped in and made a huge impact for the Sounders, making 23 appearances and scoring five goals including a hat trick at home against the Columbus Crew. And of course last season, he gets traded to Montreal where he made 23 appearances and scored two goals for the Impact including one against the Sounders. Now here he is back in his home town of Seattle, ready to make a bigger impact with the Sounders.


Thoughts on this move:

I have to admit, I'm just about as shocked to see Neagle back in Seattle as I was seeing him get traded to Montreal last season. But either way, it's great to have him back in the Emerald City. The fans love him, he's become more of an attacking threat game after game and I think this year will be the year he unloads and makes as much of an impact with the Sounders as he did during his second stint. Of course this also leads to more questions. With Fredy Montero out on loan to Millonarios for the 2013 season (by the way, he will be back with the Sounders in 2014 for sure), what do you do with your lineup. Fans have been debating about who should partner up top with EJ. "Rosales should start up top, no Zakuani should start up top, no Martinez." Do you guys ever consider Neagle as a possible option? He played forward in college and also at Charleston. Putting Martinez up front would be a bad idea because one, he's not a forward and two, you lose a bit of creativity in the midfield (not that Zakuani doesn't have it). More moves still to come for sure, but a good move here by the FO.

Sounders take down the Timbers 3-0 in front of 66,452

By Money Mike


After clinching a fourth consecutive playoff berth up in Vancouver and with four games remaining in the regular season, it was important that the Seattle Sounders ended their regular season on a high note, starting with a stretch of three straight at home. And what better way to kick off that stretch with a victory over your arch rivals in front of a record crowd. Last night, the Sounders defeated the Portland Timbers 3-0 in front of a record crowd of 66,452. After a somewhat disappointing month of September, the Men in Rave Green bounced back and completely dominated this match on both sides of the ball from start to finish to kick off the final month of the regular season. The Sounders also move up to third place and are three points behind Real Salt Lake for second position in the Western Conference with a game in hand. These two will square off on October 17th at CenturyLink and if the Sounders can win this match, they will move up to second in the Western Conference. This could be a potential quarterfinal matchup in the MLS Cup playoffs, but we don't know for sure. The Sounders still have three games to go before we find out who their opponent will be.

In the 17th minute, Portland fails to capitalize on some miscommunication. Jack Jewsbury's corner found Rodney Wallace unmarked in the middle of the area but he missed wide of Michael Gspurning's left hand side. The problem there was either Jeff Parke or Brad Evans were supposed to cover him, but they were both marking David Horst.

In the 25th minute, the Timbers struck first. The problem was, they scored in their own net. Ozzie Alonso took control of the ball from midfield. Adam Johansson made a darting run from his right back position. Alonso threaded the ball through and Christian Tiffert made a nice dummy and Johansson had plenty of space to cross after Rodney Wallace tried to break up the play with a sliding tackle and the Swedish international played the ball across looking for Fredy Montero and Mamadou Danso kicked the ball into his own net and the Sounders took a 1-0 lead after an own goal by Futty.

Three minutes later, the Sounders doubled their lead. Brad Evans delivered a very good ball to the middle and right there was Eddie Johnson, unmarked and he made the most of it as he slid the ball home on a half volley for his 14th goal of the season and the Sounders jumped out to 2-nil lead with two quick goals. As for Eddie, he has really improved his form throughout the year since returning to MLS after a dreadful spell in Europe. And earlier today Eddie Johnson was called up to the U.S. national team for their crucial World Cup qualifying matches on the road against Antigua and Barbuda on Friday and at home next Tuesday against Guatemala. I'll talk a little more about that later.

A minute later, the Sounders nearly made it 3-0. Mauro Rosales fed the ball to Eddie Johnson, who then poked the ball to Fredy Montero after he saw there was no room to turn and shoot. Montero took a couple of small touches and went for the floater and Donovan Ricketts got a hand to the ball to deflect it off the post. Did these guys not prepare themselves for this match (the Timbers)? Do they not remember that they've played against this guy before? He's scored three times against this team, they should know that they can not give Fredy Montero that kind of space, because he'll burn you in a blink of an eye.

Nearing the end of the first half, Portland looked to pull one back. Diego Chara poked the ball back to Franck Songo'o, who saw that he had room to shoot and decided to have a crack at goal and was just inches wide.

In the 61st minute, the Sounders would extend the lead to 3-0. A long throw in by Brad Evans found the head of Eddie Johnson who flicked the ball to Fredy Montero who's flick was denied by Donovan Ricketts. The Timbers struggled to clear the ball out of danger and Fredy Montero put home the rebound for his 13th of the season. Both EJ and Montero have now combined for 27 goals this season. And that would turn out to be the final score of the match as the Men in Rave Green sent 98% of the fans home happy with as they struck three times and came away with three points.


Observations:

People have been buzzing about this tifo for quite a while now. As you can see on this picture, it doesn't have the full tifo. I do have a shot of this tifo on my mobile phone, but it's not a great picture. One because my phone is crap and two I was in the nosebleed section. This was shared on the FOX Soccer fan page on facebook (that was the first pic I saw since coming home from the match) and we had a bunch of morons from England saying the same B.S. as always (hopefully you know what I mean).

I was really impressed with performance from start to finish from the lads. Down in Portland, they had a lead in that game and were outplayed since. They were outplayed against San Jose and were outplayed against Vancouver. And although the numbers favored the Timbers, you have to say the Sounders were the better side in this game. This is what we want with the playoffs looming.

As for me, my perfect record in attending Sounders matches rolls on. Since they moved to MLS, I've been to six Sounder matches and they've won all six of them. I've been to a few before that when they were in the USL, and they've drawn and lost a couple during that stretch. And there was no doubt I enjoyed being part of it. Mainly because the entire stadium was packed. CenturyLink Field is a great venue for soccer and the U.S. soccer federation needs to think about making this place a possible venue for any future USA matches. As for you folks out there. If you haven't gone to a Sounders match at all, I would suggest you get your tickets to one of the last two remaining matches on October 17th or the 21st. You would have to be an idiot to deny that Seattle is the greatest Soccer City in America.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Own goal (Mamadou Danso) 25'

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 14 (Brad Evans 4) 28'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 13 (unassisted) 62'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Christian Tiffert (caution; foul) 69'

Portland Timbers - Diego Chara (caution; foul) 72'


Lineups:

Portland Timbers - Donovan Ricketts; Lovel Palmer, David Horst, Mamadou Danso (Eric Brunner 68'), Rodney Wallace; Sal Zizzo (Mike Fucito 46'), Jack Jewsbury, Darlington Nagbe (Eric Alexander 78'), Diego Chara, Franck Songo'o; Bright Dike

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Gspurning; Adam Johansson, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leonardo Gonzalez (Marc Burch 77'); Mauro Rosales (Andy Rose 87'), Osvaldo Alonso, Christian Tiffert (David Estrada 88'), Brad Evans; Eddie Johnson, Fredy Montero

Sounders struggles continue as they fall 2-1 to the Timbers

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders still can't find a way to snap their winless streak. The Sounders have now gone seven games without a win after suffering a 2-1 defeat at the hands of their arch rival the Portland Timbers. After starting the season 7-1-1, injuries have really racked up for Seattle along with players doing a poor job communicating with each other. With another pretty big month coming up, it's important that the Sounders end the month on a good note by beating the New England Revolution next Saturday. And let's not forget their Open Cup match on Tuesday against the San Jose Earthquakes.

In the 11th minute, as I said a couple blogs ago set pieces are one of the biggest keys to victory offensively and defensively and the Sounders got lucky here because defensively they sucked on this corner. Franck Songo'o curled the ball out and found the head of David Horst from point blank range and he hit the crossbar and Jack Jewsbury couldn't put home the rebound.

In the 16th minute however, the Timbers would take advantage of some more lousy defending and draw first blood. Steven Smith worked a brilliant give and go with Franck Songo'o on the near side and whipped in a perfectly good ball into the area for Kris Boyd and Andrew Weber was left helpless as Boyd slams it home and the Timbers take a 1-0 lead.

In the 24th minute, Kris Boyd was left unmarked again, this time with a free header and Andrew Weber did enough to punch the ball over the bar. That was twice that Jeff Parke got caught and got away with it.

Straight off the corner kick though Parke gets caught one more time and this time, there was no "get out of jail free" card. Franck Songo'o curled the ball out and found David Horst for a downward header that skips through Andrew Weber and Alex Caskey and into the back of the net and things were going terribly wrong for the Men in Rave Green as they found themselves two goals behind after 25 minutes. I don't understand what has happened to Parke and Hurtado. Both of them just can't seem to communicate with each other very well and have been a major disappointment these last couple of games.

On the stroke of halftime, Ozzie Alonso had a go from a long way out and forced a big save from Troy Perkins. He had too much space on that play and it didn't look like the Timbers read any scouting reports on him, especially the fact that he can hit em' from distance.

In the 53rd minute, Alonso made a cut to his right foot and tested the keeper again, trying to go for the far corner. But again, Troy Perkins was equal to it.

In the 58th minute, the Sounders would find an answer and cut the Timbers lead in half. Zach Scott found Eddie Johnson on the right side. Johnson brushed off David Horst and was looking to square the ball across for Fredy Montero, but Futty Danso cut down the angle. Instead, Johnson cut to his left foot and curled a shot inside the far corner for his fifth goal of the season.

In the 90th minute, the Rivalry starts heating up as tempers flare from both teams. The Sounders had the ball in the Timbers area and looked to continue attacking, but referee Ricardo Salazar stopped play because it looked like Fredy Montero shoved David Horst, who went down easily. This after Horst and Eddie Johnson were right in each others face. Just after the whistle had blown, there was pushing and shoving everywhere. Futty started to go at it with Johnson and then right from behind, Lovel Palmer threw on elbow at Johnson. After all the scrap was cleaned up, it was Fredy Montero and Lovel Palmer who got sent off. This is the third straight game in which a Sounder player has been shown a red card. So we all know that Montero and Palmer will be suspended for their next match, unless appealed. But it looks like there could be more suspensions handed out. Things have gotten out of control for the Sounders once again, especially after another disappointing result.


Scoring summary:

Portland Timbers - Kris Boyd 5 (Steven Smith 1) 16'

Portland Timbers - David Horst 1 (Franck Songo'o 1) 25'

Seattle Sounders FC - Eddie Johnson 5 (Zach Scott 1) 58'


Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Brad Evans (caution; off the ball foul) 18'

Portland Timbers - Diego Chara (caution; foul) 43'

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (caution; foul) 48'

Portland Timbers - Kalif Alhassan (caution; foul) 53'

Portland Timbers - Steven Smith (caution; foul) 73'

Portland Timbers - Jack Jewsbury (caution; time wasting) 90'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (ejection; fighting) 92'+

Portland Timbers - Lovel Palmer (ejection; fighting) 92'+


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Andrew Weber; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke (Patrick Ianni 42'), Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Marc Burch; Brad Evans (Andy Rose 46'), Osvaldo Alonso, Mauro Rosales, Alex Caskey (Cordell Cato 75'); Eddie Johnson, Fredy Montero

Portland Timbers - Troy Perkins; Jack Jewsbury, David Horst, Mamadou Danso, Steven Smith; Kalif Alhassan (Sal Zizzo 54'), Darlington Nagbe, Diego Chara, Franck Songo'o (Lovel Palmer 78'); Kris Boyd, Mike Fucito (Danny Mwanga 66')

Sounders make a suprise move: Acquire Eddie Johnson from Montreal for Mike Fucito and Lamar Neagle

By Money Mike

Well I don't think this was in anybodys mind. We already knew this guy signed with MLS, but none of us tought that he would end up here in Seattle, but it turns out to be the case. Earlier this afternoon, the Seattle Sounders have acquired U.S. veteran Eddie Johnson from the Montreal Impact. In exchange, the Sounders have traded Mike Fucito and Lamar Neagle to the Expansion Side. This move was made about an hour after Johnson was acquired by the Montreal Impact through the Allocation process. Johnson joins the Rave Green shortly after his contract with Mexican club Puebla was cancelled due to his low fitness levels.

Johnson began his professional career with the Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas) in 2001 and he was inconsistant at the start of his career, scoring only seven goals in 43 matches. In 2004, he had a breakout year making 26 appearances for Dallas, scoring 12 goals and setting up three others. In 2005 however, Eddie Johnson suffered a foot injury and he didn't make much of an impact with Dallas since then. In 2006, Johnson was traded to the Kansas City Wizards and it didn't start out the way he would've wanted to, scoring only twice in 19 appearances. In 2007, Johnson returned to form and had a career year, scoring 15 goals in 24 appearances with the Wizards. In 2008, Johnson left Kansas City to join Premier League club Fulham and since then, this guy has basically disappeared. His time with Fulham has been unsuccessful, he was loaned out to three clubs and had unsuccessful stints with them. In order, 18 appearances and no goals with Fulham, 30 appearances and two goals with Cardiff City, 16 appearances and five goals with Aris Thessaloniki and 16 appearances and no goals for Preston North End. On December 22, 2011, Johnson agreed to join fellow American teammate DaMarcus Beasley at Puebla F.C. However, Johnson was released just days after signing with the club.

Going into the 2011 season, Fucito was recovering from a foot injury and Neagle, who didn't make a single appearances during his first stint with the Sounders in 2009, re-joined the club on trial after spending 2010 with USL club Charleston Battery and IFK Mariehamm in Finland. These two weren't expected to do much during the 2011 season, but after Steve Zakuani and O'Brian White suffered injuries that kept them out for the rest of the season, both Neagle and Fucito stepped up and made a huge impact. Fucito made 19 appearances and scored two goals and Lamar Neagle finished with 23 appearances and five goals including a hat-trick in a 6-2 beatdown of the Columbus Crew.

Thoughts on this move:

I'm really shocked about this move. I'm not going to tell you guys whether or not I think this is a good trade. Eddie Johnson's had his ups and downs during his career. Lately his fitness levels have been down. Adrian Hanauer and Chris Henderson must have a reason that we don't know about for acquiring Eddie Johnson. If Johnson stays healthy, I think he'll have a pretty good season. Right now, I'm just going to keep my opinion to myself and wait and see what happens.

Sounders rally falls short losing 3-2 on aggregate to Real Salt Lake

By Money Mike

The 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 Mike

Three 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

Ozzie Alonso comes through on the clutch for the Sounders as they clinch a spot in the Champions League Quarterfinals.

By Money Mike

Four days after clinching a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs, the Seattle Sounders had some unfinished business to take care of outside of MLS play. Down 2-1, the Sounders started to have some nervous moments late in the game, knowing that if they lose, they could be in big trouble, but in the 89th minute, it was Ozzie Alonso stepping up and getting a late equalizer to salvage a 2-2 draw with Comunicaciones and clinch a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals with a game to spare.

The home side got on the board first. A defensive miscommunication allowed Transito Montepeque to break clear of the defense and chipped the ball from 18-yards away over Kasey Keller who was well off his line and in the net for the match opener. Montepeque looked offside, but the linesman decided to keep his flag down.

Three minutes later, the Comunicaciones back line got caught and nearly gave one back. The chip by Tyson Wahl flicked off the head of Lamar Neagle right to Fredy Montero who caught it on the volley and forced a huge save from Juan Paredes.

19 minutes in, the Sounders nearly found themselves down 2-0. Another defensive miscue allowed midfielder Carlos Mejia maneuver a bicycle kick which rattled the top of the crossbar.

Mejia had another golden opportunity a few minutes later. Another cross up between the center backs allowed him to slip through the wing, but he pushed his effort wide of Keller's post.

In the 44th minute, the Sounders would get their goal that they had been pushing for. Osvaldo Alonso, who had been trying his luck from long distance on the wet turf, took advantage of a poor clearance and ripped a volley that deflected off a Comunicaciones defender and in.

Most of the Sounders competitive trips south of the United States have resulted in heavy rain and poor field conditions on matchday. The temperatures were expected to be around the 70's with a chance of thunderstorms, but there were none at all. But it started to pour down rain when the Sounders took the pitch to start the second half all square at 1-1.

In the 61st minute, Alvaro Fernandez and Mike Fucito almost pulled off a repeat performance from the first match. Fernandez sent Fucito through with a beautiful ball over the top of the defense. Fucito cracked a left-footed shot right at Paredes, the flag was up anyway so the goal wouldn't have counted because of the fact that Fucito was in an offside position.

Four minutes later, Comunicaciones climbed back ahead. Keller failed to gather in the ball off the corner and the ball fell to Rafael Morales who quickly fired it in.

However in the 89th minute, it was once again Ozzie Alonso's turn to celebrate. Alvaro Fernandez sent in a cross towards Fredy Montero, and the ball broke to the Cuban who drilled a shot home from close range to send the Sounders home with a point that assures them a place in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals which will take place in early March, just before the 2012 MLS season starts. It was the biggest goal of Ozzie Alonso's career for sure and also the biggest goal for the Seattle Sounders in Champions League play. And what a great story, after going 1-5 in the Group Stage last year, the Sounders survived a scare in the Preliminary Round against San Francisco F.C. and have just dominated group play, going 3-1-1 so far with one match to go.

Scoring summary:

Comunicaciones - Transito Montepeque (Carlos Mejia) 7'

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (unassisted) 44'

Comunicaciones - Rafael Morales (unassisted) 64'

Seattle Sounders FC - Osvaldo Alonso (unassisted) 89'


Misconduct summary:

Comunicaciones - Erwin Morales (caution; Reckless tackle) 75'

Seattle Sounders FC - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution; Foul) 87'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyson Wahl; Alvaro Fernandez, Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg (Servando Carrasco 74'), Lamar Neagle (Nate Jaqua 92'+), Fredy Montero, Mike Fucito (Sammy Ochoa 66')

Comunicaciones - Juan Paredes; Dagoberto Arriola, Edgar Martinez, Rafael Morales, Edwin Morales, Carlos Mejia; Fredy Thompson, Rigoberto Gomez (Jose Del Aguila 45'), Brayan Ordonez (Abner Tigueros 77'), Carlos Ramirez; Transito Montepeque (Marvin Ceballos 57')


Highlights:

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')

Local hero Lamar Neagle breaks out with three as the Sounders stomp Columbus 6-2

By Money Mike

The Seattle Sounders returned home to Seattle looking to pull within three points of the Los Angeles Galaxy, and it turned out to be easy for them. Lamar Neagle, a Federal Way native, scored a hat trick for the Seattle Sounders as they stomped the Columbus Crew by a final score of 6-2. A history making day for the Seattle Sounders and also for one player on the Columbus Crew side. The Sounders scored three goals in the first 20 minutes of the game, they scored four first half goals (a club record) and they scored a total of six goals in the match (another club record). Not only that, so far, they lead the entire league in goals scored this season with 42 goals. So all you fools who say, "they can't score", put a cork in that.

Lamar Neagle got the party going in the fourth minute of the game. After a nice give and go with Mike Fucito, Neagle cut inside his defender and directed a low shot on goal. Columbus Crew goalkeeper Will Hesmer failed to corral the ball, letting it slip behind him and in the goal.

In the 16th minute, the Sounders added another. After a nice turn in the box by Mike Fucito, the ball struck the hands of defender Rich Balchan in the penalty area and referee Baldomero Toledo pointed to the spot. Mauro Rosales, who also played a fantastic game, stepped up to take the penalty and he burried it inside the right post to make it 2-0. Rosales then ran over to the fans with their banner that says "VIVA ROSALES" as you can see on this picture.

They need to re-sign this guy to a long term deal. I mean $42,000 this year? He's playing like he deserves a lot more than that. He's got 5 goals and 9 assists now and I think he should be a candidate for the MLS MVP. I don't know how Sounder fans would react if he wasn't MVP.

Seattle weren't done though. In the 21st minute, James Riley made an overlaping run from right back position and put in a touchline cross. The ball fell to Lamar Neagle who volleyed the ball into the goal for his second of the match.

In the 40th minute, things just got better and better for the Men in Rave Green. Mauro Rosales sent in a short cross and Mike Fucito made the Columbus defense pay for standing around as he rounded the goalkeeper and put away the forth goal for the Sounders. It was Fucito's fifth goal in all compitions this season and his first in MLS since April 17, 2010 when he scored a late winner over Sporting Kansas City. This guy's been in and out of the starting lineup with Sigi Schmid trying to find a replacement for O'Brian White, who by the way just underwent a second blood clot surgery. My guess is Fucito will be dropped to the bench again after the Sounders acquired forward Samuel Ochoa yesterday.

The only major highlight for the Columbus Crew, came in the 59th minute of the match. After a miscue, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado took down Emilio Renteria in the box and the referee pointed to the spot. Hurtado was lucky not to be shown a straight red card for the challenge. Jeff Cunningham, who coming into the game was sittin' on 133 career MLS goals, tied with Jamie Moreno, was given the green light by head coach Robert Warzycha to try and break the All-time MLS goalscoring record. Cunningham stepped up and calmly converted the PK into the left corner of Kasey Keller for his 134th career MLS goal which makes him the all-time leading goalscorer in Major League Soccer history.

In the 70th minute, Lamar Neagle struck for a third time. A brilliant effort hit the underside of the crossbar and just barely crossed the goal line. This made Neagle the second player in Sounders history to record a hat trick in a game and the first to do it at home. Columbus made it 5-2 after a brilliant free-kick by the former USL Sounder Josh Gardner in the 73rd minute, but a minute later, Gardner got credited with an own goal to make it 6-2 Sounders.

Seattle has another match on Tuesday, the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup semifinal against FC Dallas at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila. Kickoff time is at 7pm and will be streamed live on soundersfc.com. They don't return to MLS play until September 10th when they host Real Salt Lake.

Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Lamar Neagle 3 (Mike Fucito 2) 4'

Seattle Sounders FC - Mauro Rosales 5 (penalty kick) 16'

Seattle Sounders FC - Lamar Neagle 4 (James Riley 2, Mauro Rosales 8) 21'

Seattle Sounders FC - Mike Fucito 1 (Mauro Rosales 9, Fredy Montero 7) 40'

Columbus Crew - Jeff Cunningham 2 (penalty kick) 59'

Seattle Sounders FC - Lamar Neagle 5 (Osvaldo Alonso 3) 70'

Columbus Crew - Josh Gardner 2 (unassisted) 73'

Seattle Sounders FC - Own goal (Josh Gardner) 74'

Misconduct summary:

Columbus Crew - Kevin Burns (caution; Tactical foul) 64'

Seattle Sounders FC - Jeff Parke (caution; Reckless foul) 73'

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

Lineups:

Columbus Crew - Will Hesmer; Sebastian Miranda, Rich Balchan, Chad Marshall, Josh Gardner; Dilly Duka (Jeff Cunningham 56'), Kevin Burns, Emmanuel Ekpo, Robbie Rodgers; Emilio Renteria (Tom Heinemann 56'), Andres Mendoza (Justin Meram 76')

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke (Zach Scott 75'), Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyson Wahl; Mauro Rosales (Alvaro Fernandez 71'), Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg, Lamar Neagle; Mike Fucito (Nate Jaqua 78'), Fredy Montero

Mike Fucito leads Seattle to a 4-1 rout over Comunicaciones

By Money Mike



In the Champions League Group stage opener at CenturyLink Field, the Sounders gave up an early goal, but bounced back with four unanswered goals to beat Comunicaciones 4-1. Michael Fucito scored two goals and assisted on another. The Sounders didn't seem to lose any focus, even after going down a man when Lamar Neagle was shown a Red Card. You could tell by this teams performance last night, they could play anybody in this region.

In the second minute, Comunicaciones got on the board early. Brayan Ordonez tracked a long ball in the corner, sending in a hopeful cross. When Sounders goalkeeper Terry Boss was unable to cut down the service, Jairo Arreola beat defender James Riley to the far post for an early lead.

In the 35th minute, Seattle answered. Mike Fucito's corner found Brad Evans from point blank range, and Evans headed the ball off the crossbar and over the goal line for the equalizer.

In the 61st minute, Fucito would this time find the back of the net. Fucito ran onto a pass from Fredy Montero, cut the ball inside the penalty area and finished with his left foot to give the Sounders a 2-1 advantage. He wasn't done though. Six minutes later, he would tack on another one. After making another good run on the ball, this time from Alvaro Fernandez, Fucito took one touch the curled the ball around the goalkeeper and in for his second of the match. Seattle would tack on one more on an own goal and maximum points in the first match.


Scoring summary:

Comunicaciones - Jairo Arreola (Bryan Ordonez) 2'

Seattle Sounders FC - Brad Evans (Michael Fucito) 35'

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Fucito (Fredy Montero, Alvaro Fernandez) 61'

Seattle Sounders FC - Michael Fucito (Alvaro Fernandez, Brad Evans) 67'

Seattle Sounders FC - Own Goal (Alvaro Fernandez) 87'


Misconduct summary:

Comunicaciones - Jairo Arreloa (caution; Dissent) 9'

Seattle Sounders FC - Patrick Ianni (caution; Tactical foul) 16'

Seattle Sounders FC - James Riley (caution; Reckless tackle) 47'+

Comunicaciones - Carlos Castrillo (caution; Reckless tackle) 50'

Seattle Sounders FC - Leonardo Gonzalez (caution; Tactical foul) 54'

Seattle Sounders FC - Lamar Neagle (ejection; Violent conduct) 55'

Comunicaciones - Adolfo Machado (caution; Reckless tackle) 60'

Comunicaciones - Carlos Ramirez (caution; Unsporting behavior) 69'

Seattle Sounders FC - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution; Unsporting behavior) 69'

Comunicaciones - Edgard Martinez (ejection; Abusive Language) 80'

Comunicaciones - Fredy Thompson (caution; Reckless tackle) 91'+


Lineups:

Comunicaciones - Juan Jose Peredas; Adolfo Machado, Edgard Martinez, Carlos Castrillo, Erwin Morales; Carlos Ramirez, Juan Marquez (Rigoberto Gomez 77'), Fredy Thompson, Jairo Arreloa, Bryan Ordonez (Carlos Mejia 70'); Transito Montepeque (Hernan Sandoval 78')

Seattle Sounders FC - Terry Boss; James Riley, Patrick Ianni (Roger Levesque 84'), Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leonardo Gonzalez (Zach Scott 75'); Lamar Neagle, Servando Carrasco, Brad Evans, Alvaro Fernandez; Fredy Montero (Mauro Rosales 63'), Michael Fucito

Sounders strike twice in the final minutes to defeat Sporting KC 2-1 and give Sigi Schmid his 150th career win.

By Money Mike

The Seattle Sounders played a terrible game against Sporting KC, but terrible as it was, the Sounders stormed back with a 90th minute equalizer by Mauro Rosales and a stoppage time goal by Lamar Neagle to steal all three points from Kansas City, snap their 14 game unbeaten streak and give head coach Sigi Schmid his 150th career win in Major League Soccer. What a big win it was for the Sounders, when it looked like they were gonna go down for the 2nd match in a row, they find a way to pull it off.

Sporting got on the board first in the 20th minute. Matt Besler just like he did on Wednesday whipped in another good long throw into the danger zone and found Kei Kamara unmarked and Kamara headed the ball into the net before Kasey Keller could claim the ball and Sporting KC prooving to be a different team now than it was earlier in the year took an early 1-0 lead over the Men in Rave Green.

In the 55th minute, Sigi made a double change, taking off Fredy Montero and Alvaro Fernandez and bringing on Mike Fucito and Pat Noonan for tactical reasons. Fernandez and Montero, both Designated Players, were ineffective in this match.

Four minutes later, this turned out to be the game changer. Omar Bravo came in with a two footed challenge on Pat Noonan with his studs showing and referee Jair Marrufo make no hesitation to reach into his back pocket and show the Mexican international a straight Red Card.

With Kansas City down to 10 men, coach Peter Vermes took out C.J. Sapong and replaced him with Canadian born-U.S. international Teal Bunbury. Bunbury had a couple scoring opportunities since coming on including a long range effort in the 88th minute that went wide of Kasey Keller.

The Sounders began to threaten in the last 20-25 minutes of the game. In the 69th minute, Mike Fucito created space for himself but his left footed area from 19-yards out was saved by Jimmy Nielsen. Lamar Neagle stepped to put in the rebound, but Nielsen made a huge kick save.

In the 90th minute, the Sounders finally came through. Servando Carrasco played in a good ball to Mauro Rosales who beat two KC defenders and slotted the ball past Jimmy Nielsen to steal a Victory from Sporting Kansas City. As a matter of fact, they would steal all 3 points. In the 2nd minute of stoppage time, Mike Fucito was able to push the ball to Lamar Neagle who quickly struck the ball first time off the hands of Nielsen and that was the match winner. With the win, Seattle now improves to 11-5-8 with adds up to 41 points so far. Kansas City now drops to 7-7-9 with the loss. Seattle returns home next Saturday to take on Chivas USA and then they open up Group play in the Champions League on August 16th at home.


Scoring summary:

Sporting Kansas City - Kei Kamara 6 (Matt Besler 2) 20'

Seattle Sounders FC - Mauro Rosales 3 (unassisted) 90'

Seattle Sounders FC - Lamar Neagle 2 (Mike Fucito 1) 92+'


Misconduct summary:

Sporting Kansas City - Birahim Diop (caution; Reckless foul) 37'

Sporting Kansas City - Omar Bravo (ejection; Serious foul play) 59'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Zach Scott, Tyson Wahl; Mauro Rosales, Osvaldo Alonso, Servando Carassco, Alvaro Fernandez (Pat Noonan 55'); Roger Levesque (Lamar Neagle 67'), Fredy Montero (Mike Fucito 55')

Sporting Kansas City - Jimmy Nielsen; Michael Harrington, Julio Cesar, Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic; Jeferson (Luke Sassano 39'), Birahim Diop, Graham Zusi; Kei Kamara (Chance Myers 82'), C.J. Sapong (Teal Bunbury 65'), Omar Bravo


Omar Bravo's red card/dumbass behavior:

Now back to that red card on Omar Bravo. So look people, you may think was a bad call because Bravo got the ball first, but he came in two footed with his studs showing on Pat Noonan, so that is definitely a red card. The decision made by the referee was correct. But after the red card, Bravo, rather than getting off the pitch, decides to go after Pat Noonan. Noonan reacted and then Bravo just falls to the ground like he was headbutted. Arlo White was spot on, he let Sporting Kansas City down. He should not be allowed to antagonize a player after being sent off and as a veteran, he should know that. MLS has to take action for this bullshit.

Congratulations Omar Bravo, you're the new public enemy #1.

I mean look what this stupid fuck is doing.....

Fredy Montero's curler in the 90th minute wins it for 10-men Seattle

By Money Mike


With less than a minute to go plus stoppage time, the Seattle Sounders were on their way to a third consecutive draw, but in the 90th minute, Fredy Montero, who had recieved the majority of the critisism this season with only two goals scored coming into this match, found an answer off a free-kick as he curled home his third goal of the season and a game winner for the Seattle Sounders as they defeat Toronto FC 1-0.

Toronto had some opportunities in the first half including in the 41st minute I believe, former Sounder Nathan Sturgis with a free kick from the middle of the box, just outside the penalty area skimming over the bar.

Four minutes into the second half, a first red card for the Seattle Sounders this season was shown and I do not understand this decision one damn bit. Defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, trying to control the ball, started to lose his balance and ended up dragging Alen Stevanovic to the ground and referee Yader Reyes decided to give him a yellow card which was his second of the game which resulted in a Red Card. Honestly, how the fuck is that a booking? Hurtado was losing his balence, lost possession of the ball and took a tumble and accidently caught Stevanovic's foot. How is that a booking? Oh yeah that's right, because these are MLS refs. FUCK EM'!!

With 10 minutes to go, the post denys Toronto a chance to capitalize on the 1-man advantage. Javier Martina was found unmarked on the right of the goal and his volley bounced back from the bar and the rebound fell to Joao Plata but James Riley cleared the ball out of play before Plata could even react. I said this was a key matchup here.

In the 90th minute, it was Fredy Montero coming through on the clutch. After Mauro Rosales drew the foul, Montero stepped up to take the free-kick from the left of Stefan Frei's goal and what does he do? He bends it around the wall, past Frei and into the goal and what a big one that was because not only did it break the deadlock, it sealed the win for the Sounders. 1-0 the final score.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero 3 (unassisted) 90'


Misconduct summary:

Toronto FC - Ty Harden (caution; Goalkeeper interference) 18'

Toronto FC - Danleigh Borman (caution; Reckless tackle) 26'

Seattle Sounders FC - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution; Reckless tackle) 34'

Seattle Sounders FC - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution; Reckless tackle) 49'

Seattle Sounders FC - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (ejection; Second caution) 49'

Toronto FC - Mikael Yourassowsky (caution; Reckless foul) 65'

Toronto FC - Oscar Cordon (caution; Reckless foul) 93+'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyson Wahl; Mauro Rosales, Brad Evans (Erik Friberg 71'), Osvaldo Alonso, Lamar Neagle (Zach Scott 52'); Mike Fucito (Alvaro Fernandez 69'), Fredy Montero

Toronto FC - Stefan Frei; Richard Eckersley, Doneil Henry, Ty Harden, Danleigh Borman; Nathan Sturgis (Oscar Cordon 46'), Alen Stevanovic (Javier Martina 71'), Mikael Yourassowsky (Dan Gargan 89'); Nick Soolsma, Maicon Santos, Joao Plata

Sounders and Fire finish scoreless.

By Money Mike

The Seattle Sounders who continue to struggle through injuries finish scoreless with the Chicago Fire. The draw gives them 4 points out of 6 in their 2 game road trip, which is not bad after picking up only 4 points out of 12 at home against Portland, KC and Dallas. I think the story of this one was the bad call by that dumbass referee Terry Vaughn. I lost track of when the foul took place. I know it was in the second half but I lost time. Kasey Keller drop kicked the ball down the field because he saw Fredy Montero down there. Montero spun away from Logan Pause who started to lose his balance. Pause was trying to drag Montero down to the ground to stop a breakaway opportunity which would've resulted in a straight red card, but he went down easily and the referee called a foul on Montero, who didn't even touch Logan Pause. As I've said before, this league has the most fucked up referee's ever. Every Sounders match that Terry Vaughn has took charge of, he has made calls that have cost the Sounders a win, like that one play for example because not only did that cost us a big opportunity which would've resulted in a goal by a player who has been criticised for his lack of scoring, which is a poor way to judge a players performance, but it also cost us a win against a team that was on a 9 match winless streak coming into this match.

The Sounders nearly got on the board early in the match. In the 6th minute, Mauro Rosales chipped the ball to the back post and found Lamar Neagle unmarked for a header but Sean Johnson stood his ground and did very well to keep it out. The Sounders continued to test the keeper early on, Lamar Neagle again in the 9th minute from the left of the penalty area tried to curl a shot to the back post, but Johnson parried it over the crossbar as it started to dip over his head.

In the 12th minute, despite starting off strong, Seattle nearly conceded one. Bratislav Ristic found Diego Chaves at the top of the box for a low drive and those shots are most likely to find the back of the net, but this one was shot right at Kasey Keller.

A scary moment in the 23rd minute for the Seattle Sounders. Already with Steve Zakuani, O'Brian White and Alvaro Fernandez out, the last thing the Men in Rave Green want is another injury. A hard tackle from behind by Gonzalo Segares on Mauro Rosales forced play to stop for a couple minutes after Rosales was down the ground with leg pain. It was a clumsy tackle by Segares and he should've been booked for that. I mean, Terry Vaughn....... does he even know the rules? Does he have a learning disability? Or is it because he knows the rules, but all he cares about is getting paid so he decides to fuck it up for everybody? It was a dangerous tackle and Gonzalo Segares doesn't get booked?

The Sounders played with 10 men for about a minute, but Rosales did return to the match and got 66 minutes in before being replaced by Roger Levesque for the remaining 25 minutes.

In the 27th minute, midfielder Corban Bone feed Daniel Paladini, and Paladini smashed a 25-yard shot that look destined for the top left corner but Kasey Keller stretched out to punch it wide. It was a great effort by Paladini who had loads of space and he used that space very well and those are not easy for a goalkeeper to stop because of the movement of the ball and how it starts to dip over them.

Two minutes later, Bone and Paladini hooked up again as Bone sent Paladini in the space for a shot from 20-yards out that went wide to the right of Keller. Then Diego Chaves tested Keller for a one-timed shot that Keller stopped and then was able to recover just before young Cristian Nazarit could get the rebound.

In the second half, both teams were quiet with the opportunities because of poor passing, ill advised shots and also the crappy refereeing from Terry Vaughn. In the 60th minute, the Sounders failed to clear the ball out of their area and Dominic Oduro collected it and fired a low left footer that deflected off defender Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and went wide of the right post.

About six minutes later, from 29-yards out, Fredy Montero curled a free-kick around the wall and Sean Johnson looked to have been beaten, but it just went wide of the right post. That was the last best chance for either side and both teams finished empty handed.

The Sounders, now 5-4-6 on the year, return home for a Rivalry match against another expansion team, the Vancouver Whitecaps. That match will take place on Saturday. I'm gonna preview that one on Thursday because Friday I'm gonna be at the Relay for Life over at Mt. Tahoma High School. The Chicago Fire who are now winless in 10 matches now head to Kansas City who are finally making their home debut in 2011. Yes, Chicago and Kansas City will be opening up Kansas City's new Livestrong Sporting Park on Thursday.

Scoring summary:

None

Misconduct summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Mike Fucito (caution; Reckless foul) 33'

Seattle Sounders FC - Tyson Wahl (caution; Tactical foul) 36'

Chicago Fire - Diego Chaves (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 46+'

Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Tyson Wahl; Mauro Rosales (Roger Levesque 66'), Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Lamar Neagle; Mike Fucito (Servando Carrasco 81'), Nate Jaqua (Fredy Montero 54')

Chicago Fire - Sean Johnson; Bratislav Ristic, Yamith Cuesta, Cory Gibbs, Gonzalo Segares; Dominic Oduro, Logan Pause, Daniel Paladini, Corban Bone (Gaston Puerari 67'); Diego Chaves (Patrick Nyarko 54'), Cristian Nazarit (Orr Barouch 78')