Thank you for joining us tonight, we will see you again next week for the second leg live from CenturyLink Field. I am Matthew Evans. Good night!
The VAVEL USA Player of the Game is Stefan Frei, who made two massive saves to keep his team alive in the series.
Final: Los Angeles Galaxy 1, Seattle Sounders FC 0
90+3': Yedlin looks to earn a corner but he puts the ball directly out of bounds.
90+2': MISS! Alan Gordon gets in behind the defense but Chad Marshall makes a huge play to force the miss.
90+1': Zach Scott with another foul, how is he still in this game? Honestly.
90': Three minutes of stoppage time
89': Seattle Sub: Jalil Anibaba (In), Brad Evans (Out)
89': Seattle trying to slice the ball through the defense but it comes to nothing.
87': Pineda is down after a hard challenge that he initiated. He is jogging off the field but looks to be fine to continue
85': The corner finds Chad Marshall but his header is just wide.
84': Pineda's corner is through the six-yard box and hit out for another corner from the other side.
84': A Seattle counterattack finds Andy Rose who puts a shot into the defender and out for a corner.
82': Scott is called for a foul on Alan Gordon, he needs to be careful.
80': Galaxy Sub: Alan Gordon (In), Stefan Ishizaki (Out). Seattle Sub: Andy Rose (In), Michael Azira (Out)
79': Evans lifts a ball into the box that is cleared by Tommy Meyer.
78': Martins and Dempsey with another rush forward but it is cut out as Martins plays a ball behind Dempsey.
77': Both teams are probing the other trying to find the next goal. The Galaxy are on the front foot now.
74': MISS! Ishizaki gets a ball played into him but he misses the half-volley.
73': Barrett is played in behind the defense but he looks to cross instead of a shot and they ball is cleared by the Galaxy.
72': A promising Galaxy attack is given away when Husidic misses a volley that rolls to Frei.
69': He is holding his quad, now he is up with a heavy limp off the field and being subbed off. Baggio Husidic is coming on.
68': Sounders finally get some sustained possession in the Galaxy half. Marcelo Sarvas is down behind the play as the Galaxy move in the attacking third.
65': Seattle is finally starting to press in the Galaxy half, they force a turnover at midfield.
62': Seattle Sub: Chad Barrett (In), Marco Pappa (Out)
62': POST!!! Izhizaki rings the ball off the crossbar on a great costless kick. Frei was frozen.
60': Keane is taken down at the top of the box. Galaxy sub coming: Dan Gargan (In), A.J. DeLaGarza (Out)
58': Martins looks to spring Pappa in the box but the ball is just a little too far ahead of Pappa.
57': MISS! Donovan puts a ball across the six-yard box that goes through six players before Zardes sends his shot high and wide.
54': Martins and Dempsey look to combine at the top of the box but it is difficult to be successful in a 2-on-6 scenario.
52': GOAL!!! MARCELO SARVAS!!! He finds a pocket of space at the top of the 18 yard box and his shot is deflected past Frei.
50': The corner pinballs around the box before the Galaxy spring a counterattack. They earn a throw deep in the Seattle half.
49': SAVE!!! A great combination springs Dempsey and Martins. Martins feeds Dempsey in alone but his shot is stopped by Penedo. A massive save there. Seattle with a corner coming.
47': Another dangerous cross that Frei gets out to stop from Ishizaki. It is all Galaxy at the start.
46': Ishizaki with a dangerous cross that is just beyond the touch of Zardes.
46': LA gets us underway moving from left-to-right.
The teams are back on the field for the second half.
What are your thoughts on the first half?
At the half: Galaxy 0, Sounders 0
45+3': Halftime
45+2': A late foul called on the Galaxy, maybe time for one last attack for Seattle.
45+1': The corner is punched out.
45': SAVE! Robbie Rogers finds a shooting space and Frei is able to palm the ball out for a corner.
45': Keane floats a cross to a darting Sarvas but he is just late. The ball is cleared.
43': Nothing comes from the corner but the attack is still on. Seattle with some mini-clearances, they finally relieve the pressure with a run into the Galaxy half.
42': A corner coming to the Galaxy after Leo Gonzalez's header is out of bounds.
39': DeLaGarza went down after that cross, no contact. He is up, we will keep you posted on his status.
38': Yellow Card: Zach Scott. Another elbow to Keane's face.
37': The low costless kick is cleared by Yedlin. The ball is played back in by Sarvas towards Gonzalez but the header is wide.
36': Yedlin is called for a soft foul on Rogers. A dangerous costless kick coming.
35': Yellow Card: Stefan Ishizaki after another foul on Dempsey.
33': Pineda finds Martins but the header is just over the bar.
33': Dempsey is pulled down by Gonzalez while attempting to get around the defender. 35 yards out to the right side.
31': Stefan Frei is down in the box after he was hit in the ribs by Robbie Keane while leaning in for a shot after a heavy first touch. That was a good scoring chance with a better first touch.
29': Marshall goes up for the header but it is picked off by Penedo.
29': Robbie Rogers is called for a foul against Dempsey. A good chance for Pappa to swing it in.
28': Donovan finds Rogers running down the wing. He takes it to the end line and earns a corner.
26': Keane plays Rogers into space but his shot is over the bar.
25': LA has been on the front foot for a majority of the half. They get a deep throw in the Seattle half but nothing to show for it after a miscommunication between Ishizaki and Sarvas.
24': MISS! Keane fires a shot from about 20 yards out but it is wide.
22': Juninho fires a long shot off of the costless kick that sails over the bar.
20': SAVE!!! A huge double save by Penedo on the original shot from Martins and the rebound from Dempsey.
20': Omar Gonzalez is forced to clear quickly as Martins finds Yedlin cutting into the box.
18': A good attack from the Galaxy but the flick on from Sarvas could not find a cutter in the penalty box.
16': A very rare call as Robbie Keane is called for a bad throw-in. One of his feet was off the ground.
13': Zardes gets in behind the defense but he cannot catch the bouncing ball which goes out for a corner.
12': A deflected header nearly troubles Penedo. He scoops up the ball.
11': Martins earns another disputed corner.
11': The kick is played into the box but it doesn't find a target
10': Zach Scott is called for a foul after going over the back of Gyasi Zardes. A costless kick coming from 40 yards out.
8': Yellow Card: A.J. DeLaGarza: He pulled down Pappa with a good tackle if this were the NFL.
8': The corner is headed into the path of Keane who puts his overhead shot just over the bar.
7': SAVE!!! Stefan Frei with a big save on a quick shot from Gyasi Zardes. A low drive that is pushed out for a corner.
4': MISS!!! Robbie Keane looks for the volley that he mishits but it just misses the net. A great run from Ishizaki down the wing.
3': Yellow Card: DeAndre Yedlin. Yedlin throws an elbow on Keane and he is in the book.
3': Nothing came from the corner which saw Seattle play it around the midfielders before floating a cross back in to the middle. Dempsey took a knock from Omar Gonzalez.
2': The corner is played short, Brad Evans is down just outside the penalty area. He is up but in some discomfort.
1': An early corner coming to Seattle as they ball is judged to have come off Tommy Meyer.
1': Kickoff!
Seattle will get us underway going from left-to-right in the pitch black kits.
The national anthem is in the books and the teams are getting ready for the traditional starting XI photos.
The teams are coming out on to the field now and we are just moments away from the first leg of this clash between Los Angeles and Seattle.
It is a beautiful day in Carson, California with temperatures in the mid-70s as we prepare for Sounders-Galaxy.
Kickoff is just about 20 minutes away. The Galaxy are getting their game faces on
The Sounders traveling support is starting to fill in their section
Here is the starting XI for the Los Angeles Galaxy: Penedo; DeLaGarza, Gonzalez, Meyer, Rogers; Ishizaki, Sarvas, Juninho, Donovan; Keane, Zardes
Osvaldo Alonso did not make the 18 for today's match. Schmid goes with Azira over Rose at the other central midfield spot.
Here is a look at the Seattle Sounders FC Starting XI: Frei; Yedlin, Marshall, Scott, Gonzalez; Evans, Pineda, Azira, Pappa; Dempsey, Martins
A great shot of Robbie Keane arriving at the arena today.
Great away support for the New England Revolution today. Cheers to all of the traveling fans!
A little pre-match entertainment in the Sounders locker room.
What drama in the Eastern Conference match that will finish New England Revolution 2, New York Red Bulls 1. Those two away goals could be vital.
We are two hours to kickoff here at StubHub Center. It should be a very interesting match today.
How do you see today’s match playing out? Can the Seattle Sounders keep the goal difference down if they do in fact lose? Can they get an away goal or two? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below or on our Twitter page @VAVEL_MLS.
Seattle was shutout five times during the regular season, as they were in the second leg of the Western Conference Semis. In the games after those shutouts, the team posted a record of 3-1-1. Ironically, the draw and the loss both came on the road as the three wins occurred at CenturyLink Field.
Seattle manager Sigi Schmid has been very tight-lipped over the past few weeks about the availability of his central midfielder, his final quote on the subject on Saturday was “maybe.” Alonso did travel with the team so it will likely be a game-time decision. Do not be surprised though to see Alonso make an appearance off the bench if needed.
As we await the lineups, the biggest question for fans of both teams will be is Osvaldo Alonso healthy enough to start in today’s match? If you are not familiar, Alonso had to be subbed off of the field in the 56th minute of the second leg versus FC Dallas after pulling up while on an attacking run.
Finally, force Landon Donovan to defend. When Seattle drew with the Galaxy back in October, the first Seattle goal was set up by DeAndre Yedlin pushing forward into the attack and forcing left midfielder Landon Donovan to account for him. Defending is not one of Donovan’s strong points and he allowed too much space for Yedlin to be able to whip in the cross which found Martins who tapped the ball onto Dempsey to score.
The second key for Seattle is to get an away goal. Sigi Schmid will likely limit the amount of times his fullbacks push forward (more Leo Gonzalez than DeAndre Yedlin) but he still needs to keep in mind that an away goal could be very critical to this series. We saw that in the Semi-Finals when Seattle’s away goal during the first leg in Dallas was the difference in the series.
The biggest key for the Seattle Sounders in this first leg will be to limit the goal difference. They cannot afford to go back to CenturyLink Field next Sunday needing to win 2 or 3 to 0. An away goal for the Galaxy in that scenario would end the series right there forcing Seattle to score 3, 4 or even 5 goals.
Fans of the Sounders were very optimistic when the team came away with a 1-1 draw at FC Dallas in the first leg of their Western Conference Semi-Finals series this year. It was a nervy second leg but at least they had given themselves a chance to advance without needing a multi-goal victory.
Coming into this season, they had been the higher seed in an aggregate playoff series twice in their history. In both of those occasions, Seattle lost the first leg away from home by a score of 3-0 (2011 to Real Salt Lake and 2012 to Los Angeles Galaxy). They did come back to win the return legs but never by enough to overturn the original deficit.
One of the biggest blocks that Seattle has had during their playoff appearances is just coming out and laying an egg in first legs that took place away from CenturyLink Field.
The Sounders look like they might have solved their StubHub hex just over a month ago during their 2-2 draw with the Galaxy on October 19th. LA had taken a 2-0 lead after the 50th minute and it looked as though it would be the same old story but Clint Dempsey and Lamar Neagle scored to level the scoreline at 2 and set up the Supporters’ Shield clinching victory the following week.
Seattle has had a history of struggles on the road against the Galaxy especially though in the postseason. They have scored one goal and allowed five in two matches at the StubHub Center. That goal came in the first meeting after the series was pretty much decided, Steve Zakuani scored it.
The Galaxy won both of the previous series; first in the 2010 Western Conference Semi-Finals winning both legs in a 3-1 aggregate win. Then in the 2012 Western Conference Finals winning 4-2 on aggregate with each side winning at home.
This is the third playoff series between these two Western Conference powers since Seattle joined Major League Soccer in 2009.
Good afternoon and welcome to VAVEL USA’s live coverage of Major League Soccer. Today, our match today is the first leg of the Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Seattle Sounders FC. My name is Matthew Evans and I will be your host for this match.