Sounders FC 0 : 0 Sporting KC

SEATTLE–Seattle failed to take advantage of an injury-depleted Sporting Kansas City side and move up in the Western Conference standings. The teams played to scoreless draw as Sporting Kansas City kept Seattle’s dominant offensive weapons in check.

The Sounders (6-3-2, 20 pts.) held a 65-35% edge in possession and 10-9 advantage in total shots. SKC (4-2-6, 18 pts.) managed to place more shots-on-goal (3-1).

Sounders FC keeper Stefan Frei saved the match for Seattle with a one-handed deflection in the 92nd minute of play. SKC midfielder Benny Feilhaber’s long-range volley required Frei’s acrobatics to secure the draw for the home team.

In their previous game on Wednesday, SKC head coach Peter Vermes had seven players out with injuries. Adding to  Vermes’ woes, forward Dom Dwyer was deleted from the starting lineup minutes before the start of the match due to a recurring neck injury. Dwyer was replaced by Jimmy Medranda.

Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid decided to incorporate his defenders into the offense. Besides attackers Clint Dempsey, Chad Barrett and Lamar Neagle, outside backs Dylan Remick and Tyrone Mears participated in numerous deep runs and crosses into the box.

Remick and Mears positioned themselves near the midfield in anticipation of an opportunity to run deep into the corners to service Dempsey, Barrett and Neagle in front of SKC keeper Tim Melia.

Seattle central defender Brad Evans had the best opportunity to score late in the first half. He raced deep into SKC territory with several other Sounders before misfiring on a long-range shot that sailed over the net.

Seattle forward Chad Barrett started his second consecutive game with Obafemi Martins still out with a tibial contusion. Barrett had a brace in last week’s 2-0 win over Vancouver. He and Dempsey failed to connect and replicate their success from the previous match.

With FC Dallas and Vancouver losing their games earlier in the evening, a victory would have propelled the Sounders into first place in the Western Conference. Instead, Seattle is now tied with Vancouver for second place with 20 points, and remains one point behind conference leaders FC Dallas.

The Sounders next play at home against the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday. The visitors travel back to Kansas City to host FC Dallas on Friday.

Sounders Player Ratings

LINEUPS & STATS

 

Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Brad Evans – C, Chad Marshall, Dylan Remick; Marco Pappa (Cristian Roldan 73′), Osvaldo Alonso, Gonzalo Pineda, Lamar Neagle (Andy Rose 64′), Clint Dempsey, Chad Barrett (Darwin Jones 84′)

 

Substitutes not used: Troy Perkins, Micheal Azira, Leo Gonzalez, Zach Scott

 

Total shots: 10 (Barrett/Neagle, 3)

Shots on goal: 1 (Barrett, 1)

Fouls: 6 (Alonso, 2)

Offside: 4 (Barrett, 3)

Corner-kicks: 2 (Pappa/Pineda, 1)

Saves: 3 (Frei, 3)

 

Sporting Kansas City – Tim Melia, Jalil Anibaba, Matt Besler – C, Kevin Ellis, Amadou Dia; Servando Carrasco (Graham Zusi 77′), Krisztian Nemeth, Benny Feilhaber, Soni Mustivar, Jacob Peterson (Connor Hallisey 56′); Jimmy Medranda (Saad Abdul-Salaam 58′)

Substitutes not used:  Luis Marin, Paulo Nagumara, James Rogers
Total shots: 9 (Feilhaber/Nemeth, 3)

Shots on goal: 3 (Peterson, 2)

Fouls: 11 (Feilhaber, 3)

Offside: 0

Corner-kicks: 3 (Zusi, 2)

Saves: 1 (Melia, 1)