12:43 AM EDT: Thank you for joining us here for live coverage of Major League Soccer on VAVEL USA. Stay tuned for all of your soccer news right here! I am Matthew Evans, signing off for tonight.
12:32 AM EDT: The Galaxy were the better of the two teams tonight, plain and simple. Seattle has four days to regroup before their next chance to get closer to their first Supporters' Shield.
12:24 AM EDT: "It was just one of those days at the office. Better to forget about it and move on." Sigi Schmid's comments after the match, courtesy of @SoundersFC
12:15 AM EDT: With a goal and two assists tonight, the VAVEL USA Man of the Match is Landon Donovan.
12:11 AM EDT: Both teams move on to more critical matches in the Western Conference this coming weekend. Your afternoon of soccer will start with the Los Angeles Galaxy hosting the Portland Timbers at 2:30 PM EDT from the StubHub Cener; that match can be seen on NBC.
Later that evening check back in with VAVEL USA as we will be providing a live commentary of the opening event at the new San Francisco 49ers park, Levi's Stadium, as the Seattle Sounders FC looks to rebound against the San Jose Earthquakes.
12:09 AM EDT: The win will vault the Galaxy into third place in the Western Conference with 30 points from 18 matches. They are tied with the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas but hold the second tie-breaker over both of them which is goal difference.
90+5': And there is the final whistle with the Los Angeles Galaxy taking all three points with a 3-0 win over the Seattle Sounders FC
90+3': MISS! Martins with a shot from the penalty shot but the ball goes over the post. A corner kick coming. It ends up in the hands of Penedo.
90+1': Kenny Walker on for Gyasi Zardes. Just four minutes of stoppage time.
90': Alonso fires a shot from distance but it is well wide.
87': SAVE! Michael Azira puts a curling ball towards the far corner that forces Penedo to tip over for a corner.
85': Martins with a tough run to the goal-line but his cross is just too close to Penedo who snags it out of the air.
84': Robbie Rogers gets involved in ShotFest 2014 but it goes well wide of the Seattle net.
83': Yedlin puts a floater across the middle, it is headed towards the back post but just goes over the bar.
81': Appeals for a penalty as Zach Scott goes to ground chasing down a costless-kick. No replay from ESPN so we'll never know.
80': Final sub for Seattle as Dylan Remick comes off for Michael Azira.
80': SAVE! Frei down and to his left to deny Ishizaki of another goal.
79': A yellow card coming to Gonzalo Pineda who must've said a no-no towards the referee.
77': A substitution for the Galaxy. It is Juninho coming off for Baggio Husidic
76': Chad Barrett with a cross intended for Obafemi Martins but the ball is headed out by A.J. DeLaGarza before Martins could fire the volley.
74': Alonso with some tricky moves to find space, he dishes the ball out to Bowen who sails his cross into the fourth row.
72': The pace has slowed to a snail's pace.
70': Apparently Jalil Anibaba has picked up a yellow card.
69': Keane and Pineda tangled up, Keane then gets into the face of the referee while the play is still going on.
68': Bowen finds some space after cutting inside; his shot though goes just wide of the post as he does not put enough curl on the ball.
66': A big defensive play from Anibaba who blocked a sure throughball to a streaking Donovan. That would have been game over right there.
64': The bounces are going in favor of the Galaxy. Sometimes it is just not your night. Another change coming for Seattle as Tristan Bowan will come in for Marco Pappa.
61': The Emerald City Supporters are starting to bring up the noise; the rest of the 39,304 in attendance respond.
59': SAVE! Penedo with a fully-stretched dive to keep the curling Dempsey shot out of the far corner.
57': Seattle breaks out quickly but the play is whistled down after the AR flies hit flag to signal a foul on Chad Barrett. A call that does not go well with the men in Rave Green or the 40,000 fans in attendance. If Barrett wins the bouncing ball, which it looked like he did, then it is not a foul.
56': SAVE! Frei down quickly to stop a hard shot from Ishizaki. Moments later it is Zach Scott with a clearance off the line to keep it a three-goal margin.
55': Seattle finally gets a look at goal after a great overlapping run from DeAndre Yedlin. The ball nearly finds Dempsey and Martins but it rolls out for a goal kick.
53': Martins finds some space open up but his shot is blocked at the top of the box. On the other end, Zardes intercepts the ball from Yedlin twice before the Sounders finally get the ball to midfield.
52': Seattle having problems getting the ball up the field. Alonso puts Frei in danger with a soft back-pass that is quickly cleared by the Swiss keeper.
50': Robbie Keane finds a ball at the his feet after pin-balling around the penalty box. He attempts to shoot but doesn't get his foot around the ball which goes out for a throw.
48': Alonso called for a foul deep in the corner on Zardes. Ishizaki is over to whip the ball across.
46': And here we go! The second half is underway.
11:16 PM EDT: Seattle will kick off the second half here moving left-to-right on your keyboard.
11:15 PM EDT: Seattle has made their first change as Chad Barrett will come on for Lamar Neagle.
11:12 PM EDT: A lot of talk on Twitter about what the Sounders could do to somehow solidify the defense. Looking at the bench though, there are no options on the bench. The question now becomes how aggresive will Sigi Schmid get in the second half?
11:04 PM EDT: The stats look exactly like the first half did, all Galaxy. Possession: Galaxy 58.3%-41.7%. Total Shots: Galaxy 11-3. Shots On Target: Galaxy 7-0. Tackles Won: Galaxy 12-3. The Sounders do lead in a few categories; those being shots blocked, saves, defensive clearances and offsides. Not the best night for the boys in Rave Green.
11:02 PM EDT: From the looks of it, Dylan Remick does not seem to be match-ready. He has been beaten several times on the left side of defense. The problem with that is that Leo Gonzalez is still out with an injury. Granted, Anibaba can fill in at left-back but that still leaves a hole at center-back.
11:00 PM EDT: That was not the first half that Seattle was looking for, obviously. They will need to find some spark on offense because it was not there in the first half.
45+4': Martins slams a shot home but the play had been whistled dead due to a foul on Neagle. The halftime whistle blows and it is 3-0 Galaxy.
45+2': A foul is called off the ball and the teams come together. A little melee ensues but cooler heads prevail. A yellow card is given to Omar Gonzalez, who continues to mouth-off with Dempsey in the box.
45': Seattle earns a costless kick from thirty yards out but Dempsey puts the shot right into the wall. 2 minutes of stoppage time here in the first half.
43': DOUBLE SAVE!!! Zardes gets in behind the defense and fires a low shot which Frei gets down for. The rebound comes right back out to Zardes who puts the second shot right into the bread basket of Frei.
43': Seattle is starting to find some offense, Dempsey looks to find Martins but it is just too far ahead of the Nigerian.
40': A floated ball in from Pineda nearly finds Dempsey deep in the box, the ball is headed into a dangerous spot from DeLaGarza but Martins could not control the ball. It is out for a goal kick.
39': Martins and Dempsey try to create with a quick two-man game but Martins loses possession as he preps to shoot.
38': You have got to feel bad for the fans at the North End of CenturyLink Field who literally seen zero action in their end in the first half.
36': GOAL! GALAXY!! Stefan Ishizaki will a bullet past Frei into the low-corner. He was wide open on the right side. He could have parked a boat in the space left open by the Seattle defense.
35': If this match was at StubHub Center, I'd expect to start hearing ole's.
34': The importance of Chad Marshall is being shown in this match. We are also seeing how suffocating the Los Angeles defense can be.
32': Dempsey finally finds some space in the middle of the park, his shot is deflected by DeLaGarza into the waiting arms of Penedo.
30': Robbie Keane with a shot from distance that is well wide. Out for a goal kick. The amount of turnovers from the Sounders in this first half has been mind-boggling.
27': Landon Donovan will be the first in the book after clipping Alonso's heels on a breakout attempt.
25': The shots are at 7-0 in favor of the Galaxy right now. Seattle needs their midfield to show up, I cannot remember the last time I heard Osvaldo Alonso mentioned.
22': More pressure from the Galaxy leads to a deep throw-in for the visitors. The ball finds its way to Donovan who cannot keep his shot on target.
20': Seattle looks asleep at the moment, the Galaxy are just having their way with the Sounders. Here comes a costless kick from Donovan that is cleared out of the box by Anibaba.
18': GOAL!! GALAXY!! Landon Donovan pounces on a deflected shot from Sarvas. It is 2-0 Galaxy.
16': Both teams are struggling to keep sustained pressure. Sounders draw a foul at the center line but give away their attacking attempt.
13': Zardes is struggling at mid-field. I did not see what happened but he is in a bit of pain.
12': Neagle floats a ball forward that is just ahead of Obafemi Martins, Penedo off of his line to gather.
11': A long distance shot from Robbie Keane on the half-volley but it ends up right in the hands of Frei.
10': Seattle looking down the right side in attack but the forward pass from Pineda was just too far away from Neagle. Out for a throw.
8': GOAL! GALAXY! It is Gyasi Zardes after a diagonal run from Donovan. The American international found Zardes trailing at the top of the box to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead.
6': It seems that the power is back is on. The TV feed from ESPN2 has returned.
5': The Galaxy has had a majority of the possession but Seattle is holding up with their patchwork back-line.
4': The match is still taking place, Robbie Keane makes a run down the right hand side challenging the returning Dylan Remick but he loses his footing and the ball is cleared.
2': There has been a power failure at CenturyLink Field
1': And here we go!!! Kickoff from the Emerald City.
10:09 PM EDT: Los Angeles will be kicking off going from left to right on your keyboard.
10:05 PM EDT: Seattle will be wearing their home rave green jerseys while Los Angeles will be wearing their third-choice black with green, red and yellow trim kit.
10:04 PM EDT: The teams are coming out onto the pitch. Are you ready for some football?!
10:00 PM EDT: And now, it is go time. Who will be the hero from tonight's clash of Western Conference power clubs?
9:59 PM EDT: A win for the Sounders FC will be the 200th career win in Major League Soccer for head coach Sigi Schmid.
9:54 PM EDT: You can add rapper Macklemore to the list of people at tonight's match.
9:52 PM EDT: The upper decks are not open tonight so we should expect a crowd of around 40,000 at CenturyLink Field tonight. We are just over ten minutes to kick off.
9:47 PM EDT: Our referee tonight is Hilario Grajeda. He has called 110 matches in Major League Soccer during his career giving out 3.4 yellow cards per match. He has also given 18 red cards as well as 18 penalties.
9:42 PM EDT: This is the first of three meetings in the regular season between the two clubs. They will meet in a home-and-home series at the end of the year to finish off the regular season.
9:40 PM EDT: The weather is beautiful in Seattle right now at an above average 84 degrees but it is clear. Just a good looking night for soccer in the Emerald City.
9:35 PM EDT: It looks like ESPN2 has found the perfect lead-in to tonight's big Major League Soccer match. We've got college arm wrestling.
9:31 PM EDT: A pre-match meeting between two of the greatest coaches in the history of Major League Soccer.
9:25 PM EDT: Here is the starting lineup for the Los Angeles Galaxy courtesy of @LAGalaxy.
9:23 PM EDT: In the meantime, here is the Sounders FC bench: Josh Ford, Michael Azira, Chad Barrett, Tristan Bowen, Kenny Cooper, Aaron Kovar, Andy Rose
9:22 PM EDT: The official twitter account of the Los Angeles Galaxy just informed me that their lineup will be out shortly.
9:14 PM EDT: The lineup for the Galaxy still has not be published yet.
9:05 PM EDT: We mentioned earlier that the biggest key to the match would be whether the Galaxy would be able to contain the Sounders FC attack but in light of the Seattle lineup it would be wise to add the other direction in there. Anibaba and Scott do not have chemistry with each other on the back-line. That may be a weakness that Robbie Keane is able to exploit.
9:02 PM EDT: An injury update from the Sounders, Chad Marshall was involved in a minor car accident on Saturday and is suffering from back spasms. That is the reason why he will miss tonight's match.
9:00 PM EDT: Around an hour until kickoff at CenturyLink Field, can the LA Galaxy snap their five-match winless streak in Seattle? Let us know in the comments below.
8:56 PM EDT: The biggest news coming out of that lineup is the absence of center-back Chad Marshall. There has not been any news or recent injury concerns made public but we will update you as soon as we know anything.
8:54 PM EDT: We have the first lineup in and that is of the home team. The Seattle Sounders FC will line up in a 4-4-2. GK: Stefan Frei; DEF: DeAndre Yedlin, Jalil Anibaba, Zach Scott, Dylan Remick; MID: Lamar Neagle, Osvaldo Alonso, Gonzalo Pineda, Marco Pappa; FWD: Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins
8:49 PM EDT: We should be seeing the lineups at any moment as we prep for this special edition of Monday Night Football here on VAVEL USA. Thank you for joining us tonight, if you have any questions or comments, feel costless to leave them in the comments section below or on my twitter page @tenorman85
8:47 PM EDT: As that goes on the Seattle Sounders FC band plays some music for the Emerald City Supporters ahead of the traditional march to the match.
8:45 PM EDT: From the depths of CenturyLink Field, Landon Donovan and DeAndre Yedlin share some words.
8:41 PM EDT: Here is my projected lineup for the Los Angeles Galaxy:
8:40 PM EDT: Here is my projected lineup for the Seattle Sounders FC:
8:39 PM EDT: The key match-up in this match will be between the Seattle Sounders FC offense and the Los Angeles Galaxy defense. Can the Galaxy slow down the dynamic attack of Seattle? To find the net, they will need to find a way to do just that.
It will be critical that they keep focused for all ninty minutes as the Sounders have scored 18 of their 35 goals in the last half-hour of matches this year; on the other hand the Galaxy have allowed 11 of their 16 goals given up in the last half-hour as well. You will not want to turn this match off early that is for sure.
8:38 PM EDT: Los Angeles is coming off of a difficult loss in their mid-week friendly with Manchester United of the English Premier League. United came away from that match with a 7-0 victory in preparation for their International Champions Cup campaign. The Galaxy are in a very interesting situation right now as they have played the fewest matches in the league with 17.
With the season wrapping up in four months, the Galaxy will essentially be squeezing a half-season into this final stretch run while some of clubs will be playing as many as four fewer matches.
Just like Seattle, the Galaxy has a very difficult stretch of matches upcoming with 11 over the course of the next 48 days. It will be a huge test of depth for a club that is going to need as many points as they can get. They are sitting in 6th place right now just one point out of the playoff spots but in this tough Western Conference they will want to finish as high up the table as possible.
Key matches for them during this stretch will be next Saturday's home match with the Portland Timbers, an August 20th showdown in Colorado, an August 23rd home match with the Vancouver Whitecaps and a September 5th home clash with Colorado.
8:37 PM EDT: That depth will be tested over the next 37 days as the Sounders will face nine matches over that time frame. Five of those matches will be nationally televised on either ESPN2 or NBC SN. Included in those matches are a riveting tie next Saturday with the San Jose Earthquakes that will serve as the opening of Levi's Stadium, the new stadium in Santa Clara which will serve as the home of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. We will be covering that match live as well here on VAVEL USA.
They will also see tricky road matches with Real Salt Lake and the Portland Timbers in successive weekends. Those matches will be sandwiched with a home match with San Jose.
8:36 PM EDT: One of the keys to the success of the Sounders this season has been the quality of their depth. There have been multiple times during the first half of the year where Seattle was without a starter or two for various reasons. They missed Brad Evans for a good portion of the early season with a calf injury but Gonzalo Pineda stepped up; Pineda has yet to give up this starting spot.
Clint Dempsey and DeAndre Yedlin left for the 2014 World Cup in mid-May but were covered wonderfully by Chad Barrett and Jalil Anibaba. Obafemi Martins missed a few matches with Kenny Cooper filling in in the attack. Center-back Djimi Traore was injured in a match towards the end of May only to see Zach Scott partner with Chad Marshall.
Despite all of the matches missed by the starting eleven, Seattle is still rolling towards the club's first MLS Cup Final appearance.
8:35 PM EDT: The Seattle Sounders come into this match on top of the Supporters' Shield race with 38 points from 18 matches. They are tied with Sporting Kansas City but they hold the first tie-breaker which is total wins.
Sigi Schmid's team is coming off of a 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League in an international friendly last Saturday. The timing of the match was perfect for the Sounders who had about a week break on either side of the friendly; that gave Schmid the ability to give his starters more playing time in an effort to keep their positive momentum going. Goals were scored by Gonzalo Pineda, Osvaldo Alonso and Tristan Bowen for the men in Rave Green.
8:34 PM EDT: Tonight is the 19th meeting across all competitions between the two clubs with the Galaxy holding a slight lead. Los Angeles has won eight matches, Seattle has won six and there have been four draws.
The results have not been favorable in Seattle for the Galaxy though especially in the recent past. This is the 11th meeting in the Emerald City with Seattle holding a 5-3 lead in wins with two draws; the Sounders currently hold a five-match unbeaten streak at home against the Galaxy with the last loss occurring on March 15, 2011.
8:33 PM EDT: In fact, Seattle and Los Angeles actually took part in one of those other Monday Night matches back on July 4th, 2011. That night the match ended in a 0-0 draw which saw the Galaxy extend their unbeaten streak at that point to 11 matches.
The match was also the Major League Soccer regular season debut of current Galaxy goalkeeper Brian Perk, who has played a total of seven matches over the course of his five-year career. His debut was forced due to the situations that occurred to both of the Galaxy's Top 2 keepers in their previous match away to the San Jose Earthquakes.
Donovan Ricketts was making his first appearance with the club since leaving for Gold Cup duty with his national team Jamaica, he left the match in the 24th minute after a hard collision with Khari Stephenson who was attempting to beat Ricketts to a cross. Ricketts would be diagnosed with a broken forearm.
His replacement Josh Saunders would be shown a straight red-card in the 43rd minute after a scrum with Steven Lenhart that saw Saunders connect with an elbow to the out-spoken forward's face. Bruce Arena would be forced to use an outfield player in goal which turned out to be Mike Magee. Magee made four saves in the final 47 minutes.
8:32 PM EDT: Our match tonight is very special for a few reasons with the first being a rare Monday night match in Major League Soccer. This will be the tenth match to take place on a Monday in league history. The road team has never won any of the previous nine matches on Monday with five draws and four losses.
8:31 PM EDT: Tonight we will be bringing to you Monday Night Football as the Los Angeles Galaxy travel up the west coast to take on the Supporters' Shield leading Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field. Here is a nice little hype video created by Sounders supporter @LikkitP
8:30 PM EDT: Good evening ladies and gentleman, welcome to VAVEL USA's live coverage of Major League Soccer. I am Matthew Evans and I will be your host from now through the match. We hope that you enjoy our coverage and would encourage you to interact with us tonight via the comments section below or on my personal Twitter page, @tenorman85