Captions by Toby Dunkelberg Photos by Max Aquino
After falling out of the CONCACAF Champions League the Seattle Sounders welcomed Sporting Kansas City to a newly turfed CenturyLink Field to their first game of the MLS season.
Both sides were down men. The Sounders saw Oneil Fisher in for an injured Mears (quad strain) and Roldan manning the middle of the field in lieu of Friberg (concussion protocol). Jordan Morris also made his MLS debut. This made for a very young and dynamic right side for the Sounders.
Sporting Kansas City was were without stalwart center midfielder Benny Feilhaber. Their offseason addition Nuno Coelho made his own MLS debut starting at centerback.
The Sounders started out dominant with Roldan and Alonso winning the midfield battle. They efficiently recycled possession off of set pieces and were constantly breaking up counter attacks before they could really start.
The best chance of the first half for the Sounders came in the ninth minute when Andreas Ivanschitz found Jordan Morris in on goal. The Herman trophy winner put a little too much on the ball and watched as his pacey shot sailed high over the bar.
Melia did well to keep the Sounders off the books during their strong spell. He stopped a Dempsey free kick that was the mirror image of his goal from two weeks ago in the 14th minute. Melia dealt with corner after corner including a Chad Marshall header that bounced off the crossbar.
Starting the 20th minute Sporting KC found their legs by exploiting space down Seattle’ wings. Connor Hallisey found himself one on one with Stefan Frei but he couldn’t push it pass the Swiss keeper.
A comfortable game for Seattle change in the 41st minute. Oneil Fisher came into a tackle on Hallisey studs showing and both feet in the air. In real time it looked reckless but far from harmful. However PRO’s made it clear they’re cracking down on two footed tackles this year and Fisher found himself fodder for the cause.
In the aftermath Cristian Roldan dropped to right back and Ivanschitz slotted back to a DM role. As halftime came and went Sigi Schmid refined his strategy. Employing a 4-4-1 with Morris and Dempsey as the wide players and Nelson Valdez as the lone striker. This allowed for chances on the counter while keeping a solid defense in an effort to preserve a 0-0 draw.
After limiting Seattle to one chance in the second half Sporting KC amped up the pressure and started stringing together chances. Dom Dwyer headed d0own a ball to Espinoza fora shot that was blocked. THe midfield had another chance a couple minutes later, this time from the top of the box. Roger Espinoza (Sporting Kansas City) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted byDominic Dwyer with a headed pass. Espinoza had a chance again, receiving at the top of the area and darting in before just missing wide of the far post.
The game started with blue skies and sunshine but by the 60th minute the heavens had opened and a downpour arrived. The rain was met by cheers from the home crowd.
In the 70th minute Zach Scott came on for a tired Nelson Valdez. Scott slotted in at centerback pushing Evans out to right back and Roldan into midfield. Clearly an effort to try and preserve the draw.
Sporting KC’s pressure was rewarded in the 73rd minute. Nuno Coelho found the ball 35 yard out. He dribbled five yard in looked up and drove a shot into the ground. The ball skittered across the ground and slipped under Frei’s arm after taking an odd bounce.
Nuno, who had an impressive night already was quickly swarmed by his teammates.
The Sounders, now chasing tried to ignite things offensively but Kansas City succesfully stymied their efforts. Forcing Sigi Schmid to sub forward Oalex Anderson in the 80th minute for his MLS debut. Only 11 months after after being officially signed by Sounders 2 Anderson is the first of Sounders 2 signing to get first team game time.
Anderson had quite the entrance, quickly using his pace to find the ball. While wiggling his way through defenders he lost his shoe. Not a minute later earned a free kick on the edge of the box.
Sporting quickly adjusted and saw the match out with no late game heroics. Final Score Sporting Kanasas City 1 – Seattle Sounders 0. Sporting grabbed a hard to come by three points at CentruyLink Field while Seattle is yet again set home wondering what happened after another disappointing finish after a promising start.
