Sounders Scratch Back A Tie Against LA – Photo Recap

The Seattle Sounders welcomed the LA Galaxy to CenturyLink Field for the first time this season in front of 56,097 fans on a gorgeous Sunday evening. The plot thickened pregame when Nelson Valdez left warmups with a calf strain which pushed Lamar Neagle into the starting eleven and Chad Barrett out of the press box and into Seattle’s eighteen.

Things started quickly as the first ten minutes saw a flurry of chances. Clint Dempsey had two clear looks that Ricketts did well to save, and Steven Gerrard had an open look from the top of the box that skirted just high of the bar.

The game started to settle down after 15 minutes as Alonso & Pineda really started to settle the midfield for Seattle. Both sides employed high lines which led to quick offensive spurts when players got behind the defense.

Seattle got close on a couple balls over the top to Neagle but the late addition couldn’t settled them down and play it on. LA resorted to the same as they tried to spring Dos Santos but Brad Evans came up big with two acrobatic interceptions.

Then the dynamic changed in the 36th minute on a back pass from Zach Scott that came off the veterans foot the wrong way. Robbie Keane doggedly intercepted the loose pass and fired a shot by Stefan Frei to make it 1-0 LA.

The momentum really changed after that as Obafemi Martins and Clint Dempsey had to drop deeper and deeper in order to try and generate offense due to Neagle and Ivanschitz coming up empty out wide. Meanwhile LA found plenty of space on the wings away from Alonso’s central influence and behind Seattle’s pushed up fullbacks.

The halves end and start without much fan fair as Seattle struggled to generate shots and LA sats back content with a 1-0 scoreline that would see them get their third road win of the year.

In the 66th minute Sigi Schmid made it clear that he wanted three points on the night when he subbed in Marco Pappa and Erik Friberg on for the struggling Neagle and Pineda while also pushing Mears farther and farther forward.

Gerrard and Juninho started to sit back in order to plug the gaps and stifle Dempsey and Martins. Into that space popped Marco Pappa who stayed central allowing Friberg and Alonso to focus on quick recoveries to eliminate outlets and amp up the pressure against LA

Multiple times it looks close to working as a cross fells to Martins or Ivanchitz, but neither could bring it under control. The Galaxy meanwhile found good breaks on loose passes but they were quickly dealt with by Evans or Scott.

The last ten minutes saw Seattle push everyone forward as chance after chance was created. In the 83rd Ricketts pushed a long range Dempsey effort out for a corner. In the 86th Chad Barrett beat Ricketts but was denied only due to a goal line clearance from DeLaGarza. And finally in the second minute of stoppage time Dempsey’s chip from an impossibly narrow angle flies just over the bar to land on the top netting.

The night looked lost until finally, in the third minute of stoppage, the home side got their goal. Marco Pappa fired in a corner that Brad Evans redirected right in front of Chad Barrett who stamped it in for the late equalizer.

Seattle chased for a second but with only two minutes left LA stood resolute and held on for their point. That point put LA back on top of the Western Conference at 51 points from 32 games and allows Seattle to hold steady at fifth with 47 from 32. Their playoff spots all but assured it’s a result LA would’ve been happy with had they not lead for 54 minutes. Seattle meanwhile got the monkey off their back with a result against LA and stretch their unbeaten streak to six games.