Marco Pappa struck twice in the final ten minutes to clinch their first ever Supporters' Shield and home field advantage throughout the playoffs for the Seattle Sounders. Today's match was a winner-takes-all affair; a draw or win for Seattle would see them claim the Shield while a win for LA would have won it for them.
The lead-up to the match was dominated by endless discussion of LA's team selection. They entered the day knowing that star defender Omar Gonzalez was suspended for this one after being sent off in the reverse fixture last week, but Robbie Keane was a late scratch due to fitness concerns. It unfortunately appeared that Galaxy manager Bruce Arena was treating the MLS Cup Playoffs as more important than the Shield.
Once the match got going, those fears appeared unfounded as both sides played well. It was the Galaxy who crafted the first clear-cut chance of the match, and Landon Donovan nearly opened the scoring in the 14th minute. Swedish international Stefan Ishizaki hit a long ball over the top that found Donovan, but his first-time finish was straight at the onrushing Stefan Frei.
As the first half wore on, it became apparent that Seattle was willing to settle for a draw. Most of the half-chances were falling to LA, but they were struggling to create anything clear-cut. That would change just before halftime when Marcelo Sarvas uncorked a rocket strike from distance that was well kept out.
Gyasi Zardes nearly found the opener in the 68th minute, winning the ball of a lazy Gonzalo Pineda in the center of midfield. Zardes turned and ran at the defense before ripping a strike that went whiskers wide.
The importance of this match saw tempers overflow in the 71st minute. A hard challenge on Clint Dempsey saw DeAndre Yedlin, Gonzalo Pineda, Dan Gargan, Marcelo Sarvas and AJ DeLaGarza get into a scuffle and more teammates arrived on the scene. Mark Geiger, arguably MLS' best referee was on hand for this one and he made what seems was a correct decision to only award yellow cards to Pineda and Sarvas.
We got back to football shortly afterward, and Seattle would find their winning goal with quite possibly their first clear-cut chance of the match. Obafemi Martins took a quick costless kick to Clint Dempsey, who played it back to Martins. The Nigerian spotted Pappa in space, and slid the ball through to him. Pappa made no mistake with his finish, and as the ball hit the back of the net he sent CenturyLink Field into raptures.
The Galaxy looked emotionally beaten, but Landon Donovan managed to rally his troops. He gave them such a rousing pep talk that they created their best chance of the day in the first minute of stoppage time. Jose Villarreal cross found its way to the feet of substitute Alan Gordon all alone from 12 yards out. Sadly for LA, Gordon could only fire weakly at Frei.
Seattle found their clinching goal four minutes later, as Pappa picked the ball cleanly off the feet of Jaime Penedo. Penedo was looking to launch the ball forward, and dawdled too long on the ball. It appeared as if Pappa had fouled the keeper, but nothing was given and he lobbed DeLaGarza to put the game away at 2-0.
Captain Brad Evans lifted the Shield at full time to give Seattle their first victory in this competition. That completes a domestic double for them, and they will be going for the treble in the MLS Cup Playoffs. We can only hope that these two sides will meet again in the postseason.