5:01 PM ET: Thank you for joining us today. I am Matthew Evans. Good day!
5:00 PM ET: The VAVEL USA Player of the Game is Marco Pappa!
4:58 PM ET: That is the first Supporters' Shield in Seattle Sounders history. They will host the MLS Cup Final if they get that far.
4:55 PM ET: This baby will be making his home in the Emerald City!
90+6': FINAL WHISTLE!!!! The Sounders have clinched a domestic double!
90+5': GOAL!!!!! MARCO PAPPA!!!!! Penedo with poor possession at the back, he is dispossed by Pappa and he chips the ball past DeLaGarza!!! The Sounders have won the Supporters' Shield!!!!
90+4': Pappa hits it off the wall. The ball is out for a throw-in. Dempsey is coming off for Traore.
90+3': Dempsey is fouled right outside of the penalty spot. A costless kick in a dangerous area here for Seattle.
90+2': He is up to his feet and jogging off the field. He'll likely be subbed out.
90+1': SAVE!!! Frei makes a big stop point-blank on Alan Gordon as Chad Marshall is down on the field. He collided with Frei on the first cross into the area. Djimi Traore is getting ready to come on if need be.
90': Three minutes of added time.
89': LA bringing on a forward in need of 2 goals in the last few minutes. They almost get a chance as the ball bounces between Marshall and Frei but Gordon misses the shot. Goal kick
88': Substitution comes for LA: Dan Gargan (Out): Jose Villarreal (In)
87': A beautiful pass from Martins on that play. The quick costless kick set up that goal.
86': CenturyLink Field is ROCKING!!!!
85': GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!! MARCO PAPPA!!!!!! Off the quick costless kick, Martins finds Pappa wide open on the back post and he slams the shot home!!!! Sounders 1, Galaxy 0
84': Both corner kick attempts are cleared by the Galaxy. Seattle with a throw deep in Galaxy territory.
83': Seattle earns a corner as Rogers clears before Neagle can make a run at goal.
82': Galaxy Sub: Husidic (Off), Gordon (In)
81': Alan Gordon is getting ready to come on.
80': SAVE! The ball pinballs around the box and nearly beats Frei. That looked to have come off of Chad Marshall. Yikes. It is nervous time at CenturyLink Field.
80': Pappa fouls Donovan at the edge of the 18-yard box angle right. Donovan will whip this ball in.
79': The match is starting to get very chippy with late challenges all around the park.
78': Scott is very lucky to get away with a foul on Donovan at the center circle. A tough challenge to make when you are already on a yellow card.
77': Nothing comes from the corner.
76': A good attack for Seattle results in a corner kick after the deflected shot by Pappa.
74': A Galaxy corner coming up after a cross towards Donovan. A quick corner to Juninho, he floats a ball across that is taken by Frei. A quick distribution to Pappa who earns a Seattle throw down in the Galaxy half.
73': Seattle Sub: Brad Evans (Out), Marco Pappa (In)
72': That was a dangerous challenge for all involved. Geiger did well to cool the situation down and handing down discipline to the instigators of the scuffle.
71': A scuffle at midfield involving a ton of players as Dempsey is sandwiched at midfield. Leonardo and Dempsey are all down on field. Yellow cards to Pineda and Sarvas.
69': MISS!!! Zardes jumps on a deflected pass and fires a curling shot that just misses the far corner. Goal kick to Seattle.
67': Yedlin is clipped in the face after a challenge from Marcelo Sarvas. He takes a few moments but is back to his feet.
65': Husidic is sprung down the left wing. He looks across for Donovan but the American is covered. He pulls the ball back but it is cut out by Seattle.
62': A great play from Ishizaki to earn a corner kick after being hounded by Leo Gonzalez with no pressure. The corner is cleared by Chad Marshall.
59': A Seattle corner coming up after a Dempsey cross is cleared. The corner is headed back across goal but Scott cannot hit his header on target.
56': Ishizaki finds a ball at his feet off of a cross, he lays it off to Gargan who takes a shot right at Frei.
55': A foul coming to Marcelo Sarvas after he shoves down Lamar Neagle in the Sounders penalty box. That was the best attack for either team in this second half as the Galaxy sustained a good chunk of possession in the Seattle half.
53': The corner is cleared by Alonso
52': Ishizaki takes the shot off the wall and out for a corner. That one nearly caught the crossbar.
51': Yellow Card: Zach Scott. Donovan makes a run drawing three defenders to him and Scott clips him down to give up a costlesskick in a dangerous area.
50': Pineda is knocked over by Juninho as Seattle looked to break for a counterattack, a costless kick at midfield coming to the Sounders.
49': Dempsey finds Evans in some space but the cross from Evans floats into the crowd and out for a goal kick.
46': Ishizaki puts a cross in the box that is headed out by Martins for a corner kick.
46': An early foul called on Zach Scott. A costless kick in the first 40 seconds for the Galaxy.
4:02 PM ET: The teams are back on the field and we are ready for the second half. Seattle is kicking off moving left-to-right on your keyboard.
3:47 PM ET: We will be back with coverage of the second half in just a moment.
45+2': That is the end of the first half with the score Seattle 0, Los Angeles 0. This result would give the Supporters' Shield to the Sounders.
45+1': Marcelo Sarvas takes a long shot through traffic that Frei bobbles but he regroups to make the save. One minute of stoppage time.
45': Another ball over the top towards Martins. This time it almost comes to something as Penedo and Leonardo both hesitated as to who would clear the pass.
43': The pace picking up now as Frei makes a save at the one end and quickly distributes towards Martins but Penedo comes waaaaay off his line to clear the ball.
42': Lamar Neagle takes a ball to the end line, he clips the ball out of bounds as Ishizaki was trying to shield for Penedo to get the ball.
40': Yedlin looks to spring Dempsey who gets in behind the defense but he is called for a foul.
38': Yellow Card: Landon Donovan
36': Ishizaki whips the ball in but it is right to Frei. He looks to break Martins out, he makes a cutting pass towards Neagle but it rolls to Penedo.
35': Galaxy costless kick after Yedlin is called for a handball close to the touchline.
35': A Seattle attack is whistled back after Leo Gonzalez goes in hard on a shoulder tackle with Dan Gargan.
33': Zardes slips through but Frei is off his line to get the ball.
32': Rogers clips down Evans to give Seattle a costless kick angle right from about 30 yards out. Pineda's cross is cleared out by Juninho.
29': Geiger stops the play after Ishizaki takes a knock to the back of the head.
27': Zardes gets in behind Scott, his low cross is cleared by Chad Marshall.
26': We are back after some technical difficulties, a corner kick cleared by Zach Scott and Chad Marshall.
22': Yellow Card: Dan Gargan
21': A low corner goes through the box before it is cleared.
20': Corner kick coming to Seattle as Yedlin makes a run fown the right side.
19': Leonardo with a risky challenge on Lamar Neagle in the penalty box that he times perfectly to clear the ball.
17': Neagle shields Gargan as the ball rolls out for a goal kick. The sun has peaked out in the Emerald City.
16': Dempsey challenged A.J. DeLaGarza hard on the punt from Frei.
15': Yellow Card: Clint Dempsey
15': MISS! Ishizaki chips a ball over the top to Donovan who's shot is stopped by Frei.
13': Yedlin looking to spring Martins on the other end but the ball is just too far ahead of the Nigerian and Penedo gathers.
12': The ball nearly finds Leonardo but he cannot find the trigger. Evans clears.
12': The first corner of the match goes to the Galaxy after a mishit ball by Chad Marshall.
10': Galaxy press forward on a counterattack that sees a couple of shots but none that reach Frei. Zardes deflected the final attempt from an offside position.
8': Yedlin with a big clearing header as two Galaxy players collapsed on the back post looking for the cross from Dan Gargan.
7': Leonardo makes a run into the Sounders half looking to combine with Donovan. They are almost successful but the final shot is poor.
4': Both teams are trying to feel each other out. A few combinations from both sides but nothing dangerous in the last two minutes.
2': Donovan pulls down Alonso and the two have words.
1': Another quick long-distance shot from Juninho goes wide of the net. Goal kick to Frei.
1': An early shot from the Galaxy does not test Frei. The Galaxy are looking to strike quickly.
1': KICKOFF! We are 90 minutes away from knowing who will win the Supporters' Shield.
3:00 PM ET: Seattle is wearing their home rave green kicking from right to left. Los Angeles in wearing black and they will get us underway.
2:57 PM ET: The anthem has been completed and we are ready for kickoff at CenturyLink Field.
2:52 PM ET: The players are in the tunnel and we are moments away from the anthem and kickoff.
2:50 PM ET: The pre-game ceremony that Seattle was teasing was to unveil their fourth Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Banner. The rafters are starting to fill up there with banners for the Seahawks and Sounders.
2:43 PM ET: KIRO7 weatherman Morgan Palmer tweeted out a picture of the falling barometer at his weather center. Winds should gust to between 40 and 55 mph across the Puget Sound tonight. That should make for some fun in my second live broadcast tonight when the Arizona State Sun Devils meet up with the Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium
2:37 PM ET: LA Galaxy fans, how do you feel about Landon Donovan giving an interview with NBC before the match on their set?
2:35 PM ET: That is what is on the line today. The Supporters' Shield.
2:33 PM ET: The Galaxy out on the field for warmups:
2:32 PM ET: It'll be interesting to see if the absence of Robbie Keane will effect the MVP race.
2:28 PM ET: Kickoff is just thirty minutes away. A score update from the EPL match that just finished on NBC. Swansea City 2, Leicester City 0.
2:14 PM ET: We will be back in a moment with more pre-match coverage here on VAVEL USA.
2:08 PM ET: A big surprise in the Galaxy lineup as Robbie Keane is not in the 18. He has been dealing with a nagging injury according to Adam Serrano
2:05 PM ET: Here is the lineup for the Los Angeles Galaxy:
1:57 PM ET: Sigi Schmid has released the starting XI for the Seattle Sounders: GK: Stefan Frei; DEF: DeAndre Yedlin, Chad Marshall, Zach Scott, Leonardo Gonzalez; MID: Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Gonzalo Pineda, Lamar Neagle; FWD: Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins.
1:52 PM ET: The weather will be very interesting today. It has rained almost non-stop through the day on Friday. We are in a weather break where the rain should stay away through the first half but the forecast calls for isolated thunderstorms through the second half.
1:32 PM ET: How do you see this game going? Who will end up with the Supporters’ Shield? Kickoff is in 90 minutes and we should be seeing the lineups come out in about 30 minutes.
1:30 PM ET: A very key moment took place in the final moments as Galaxy centerback Omar Gonzalez was sent off after picking up his second yellow card. That means that he will miss today’s regular-season finale. We will likely see Leonardo be paired with A.J. DeLaGarza as they look to stop the Sounders attack.
1:28 PM ET: The equalizer came just a few minutes later as Obafemi Martins drew a crowd as he cut into the box. That costlessd up Lamar Neagle in space and the Federal Way native did not miss, firing a low ball past Penedo to split the points.
1:26 PM ET: The play started with DeAndre Yedlin on the right wing. He pushed forward in the attack looking to use his speed to exploit the weakest part of Landon Donovan’s game, his defense. Yedlin combined with Pappa to costless up some space where he whipped a cross into the box towards Obafemi Martins. The cross was behind Martins but he was able to flick the ball into open space to a wide-open Clint Dempsey who slammed a shot past Jaime Penedo to bring the Sounders within one.
1:24 PM ET: It was starting to look like another Galaxy rout over the Sounders at the StubHub Center. That potent Seattle attack just needed a spark to get themselves going and they got that spark in the 69th minute.
1:22 PM ET: The second goal came off of a corner kick just a few minutes into the second half. Donovan played a ball towards the front post looking for a flick from the charging Gyasi Zardes. He managed to steer the ball back towards Baggio Husidic at the top of the box. Husidic controlled the ball and set a pass into the path of Marcelo Sarvas who took a one-touch shot that managed to beat Frei high and nestle into the far corner of the next. After 50 minutes, the score was Los Angeles Galaxy 2, Seattle Sounders FC 0.
1:20 PM ET: Dan Gargan started the play off on the right wing as he and Juninho exchanged passes looking for space to whip a ball across the box. Gargan took the space that Osvaldo Alonso allowed him and sent a ball into the penalty looking for one of the four Galaxy players between 12 and 18 yards from goal. A miscommunication between Brad Evans and DeAndre Yedlin led to a poorly placed header from Evans which fell to the foot of Baggio Husidic, who fired a low shot on his second touch past Stefan Frei and into the far corner to give the Galaxy a 1-0 lead.
1:18 PM ET: The Galaxy came out and controlled possession in the first half, winning every five-minute interval. Despite their big chunks of possession they were not able to find the back of the net from their chances. They did strike on a mistake from the Seattle defense though.
1:16 PM ET: As we have mentioned, this is the second leg of a home-and-home series as the two clubs met last weekend in Carson, CA at the StubHub Center. That match ended in a 2-2 draw which was a great result for Sounders fans considering how the match had started.
1:14 PM ET: Conversely only three of 10 goals scored in the series by Seattle have been scored by current players. Andy Rose, Clint Dempsey and Zach Scott are the only members with goals. The other goal scorers are current DC United striker Eddie Johnson (3), Sporting CP striker Fredy Montero (2), DC United midfielder Alex Caskey (1) and Philadelphia Union midfielder Sebastien Le Toux (1).
1:12 PM ET: A very interesting stat leading into this game is that current Galaxy players have combined for 10 of the 12 goals scored by the club at CenturyLink Field. Landon Donovan and Robbie Keane each have two goals in the Emerald City with goals added by Alan Gordon, Gyasi Zardes, Juninho, Omar Gonzalez, Stefan Ishizaki and Todd Dunivant. The other goals were scored by Edson Buddle and Jovan Kirovski.
1:10 PM ET: Both clubs actually have streaks of three consecutive wins at CenturyLink Field during the series. The Galaxy won three matches in a row between May 2010 and March 2011. Seattle won all three matches at CenturyLink Field during the 2012 season. The clubs drew in 2013 before the Galaxy took the last meeting in 2014 by a score of 3-0.
1:08 PM ET: The Galaxy have won four matches in the series compared to Seattle’s three wins. There have also been two draws with Los Angeles outscoring Seattle 12-10 in those nine previous matches.
1:06 PM ET: This is the tenth meeting all-time between the two clubs at CenturyLink Field and surprisingly the Los Angeles Galaxy actually have the better of the Seattle Sounders FC in the Emerald City.
1:04 PM ET: Both teams enter this match with 61 points from 33 games. The scenarios look like this: Seattle will win the shield with a win or a draw while Los Angeles must win the match in order to claim the shield.
1:02 PM ET: This match is for the Supporters’ Shield as well as the top overall seed in the playoffs. The winner will have the inside track to host the MLS Cup Final in December.
1:00 PM ET: Good morning from the Pacific Northwest and welcome to VAVEL USA’s live coverage of Major League Soccer. Our match today is the big one as the Los Angeles Galaxy travel north to the Emerald City for a date with the Seattle Sounders FC. My name is Matthew Evans and I will be guide through this massive match to close out the 2014 regular season.