Photo Recap: Sounders Rout Dallas in Wild Affair at CenturyLink Field

40,101 people assembled on Wednesday night for a Western Conference showdown between FC Dallas and the Seattle Sounders.

Dallas were down to ten men inside of five minutes. A chaotic Sounders sequence in the box played out after Joevin Jones played a promising low cross in from space on the left. Andreas Ivanschitz hammered the ball towards the near post with Seitz out of position, and Figueroa handled it to keep the ball out of the net. Ricardo Salazar pointed to the spot and pulled out his red card, and Seattle had the perfect start.

Dempsey left little doubt on the ensuing penalty, roofing it into the upper right corner as Seitz dived left. Sounders had converted fortune to advantage in lightening speed.

Sounders’ Austrian midfielder doubled the advantage twelve minutes later. Ivanschitz ran onto an Alonso ball over the top as Seitz rushed out to meet him. Ivanschitz beat him to the ball and lifted it over the goalkeeper and into the net with his first touch.

Seattle looked to be heading for an easy night when Jordan Morris latched onto Dempsey’s layoff for him. Sounders’ leading scorer in 2016 hit a right-footed effort low across goal that left Seitz very little chance — the brilliant finish had Seattle 3-0 up on only 22 minutes.

The night soured for Seattle on 33′, as Clint Dempsey reached back and swiped at the face of Juan Ortiz. There was little doubt about Dempsey’s intent and Salazar rightly dismissed Seattle’s highest paid player. The red card leaves him suspended for Sounders’ vital derby at Portland this weekend, the latest in a string of questionable decisions from Dempsey.

By halftime, Sounders had already gone from ecstatic with the upset win to a tad miffed about Dempsey’s mistake. To be fair, most Sounders fans would have taken a 3-0 lead at 10 v 10 if it had been offered to them as a possible outcome before the match. Most remarkable was the idea that something had gone wrong while the scoreboard read 3-0. How quickly the mood can shift in this game! Sounders dominated statistically, with 61% of the possession and 7-0 advantage in shots taken.

Things only get better for the hosts after the break, with Joevin Jones quelling any prospect of a Dallas comeback. Oniel Fisher carried the ball forward before passing to Jones, who took a deflected shot that beat Seitz to the bottom right-hand corner.

Seattle put the icing on the cake with 17 minutes to play. Ivanschitz crossed a free kick from the left side, and Cristian Roldan slipped his marker to easily head past Seitz. The rout was complete and neither side looked particularly interested in scoring after Seattle hit their fifth.

The victory marks only the second time ever that Seattle have scored five or more goals at home in an MLS match, after a 6-2 win over Columbus way back on 8/27/11. They next travel to Providence Park for a massive derby with the Portland Timbers, marking a chance for them to cement the momentum necessary to get their season back on track. 5-0 over one of the best teams in the league was a great way for Sigi Schmid and his men to start the rivalry week. Seattle were able to sub off Morris, Friberg and Alonso to save them for the big game, even if Dempsey won’t be there. Dallas next take on Eastern Conference bottom-dwellers Chicago.