On a picture perfect evening at CenturyLink Field, the Seattle Sounders FC rolled to a 3-0 win over the visiting New England Revolution. Clint Dempsey scored once in each half and Obafemi Martins added a header in the first half to lift the Sounders to the win. It was the highest goal scoring output in the opening match of the season for Seattle since the 2012 season when the Sounders beat Toronto FC 3-1 on a hat trick from David Estrada.
The team’s scoring output has been increased mightily since the additions of Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins. Seattle scored three or more goals in ten of their 34 regular season matches, all of those coming in the final 29 games of the season.
It should be noted that both clubs were missing key players tonight. The New England Revolution were missing arguably their two best players in midfielders Jermaine Jones and Lee Nguyen. Nguyen traveled with the team to the Emerald City but just was not able to give it a go. Jones, meanwhile, has been in Los Angeles while recovering from sports hernia surgery last month. He should be returning to training in the next few weeks if his recovery is still on track.
Seattle was without Osvaldo Alonso tonight; he is recovery from off-season groin surgery. Like Jones, he should be back within a few weeks.
The first big chance of the game came in the 18th minute. Seattle had earned a corner kick on the far side after a good run from Tyrone Mears. Pappa hit an in-swinger to the top of the six yard box where Chad Marshall met the ball on a free header that he missed to the near side. It was a very poor defending effort by Juan Agudelo who completely lost his man on the set piece.
Six minutes later, Clint Dempsey would see a corner kick from Pappa fall to his feet. Dempsey could not fire a shot first time so he attempted to put himself in space off the dribble with defenders closing. He got by the first defender but was hauled down by the second. The referee wasted no time in pointing to the penalty spot.
Dempsey made no mistake fooling Bobby Shuttleworth into diving low to the left while he easily placed the ball high and to the right. If you look at the replay, Shuttleworth had anticipated a low left drive as he was almost already in his dive by the time Dempsey made contact with the ball. Nevertheless, the crowd of 39,782 erupted as the ball hit the back of the net.
New England tested Stefan Frei in the 40th minute after a poor clearing pass from Brad Evans. Evans looked to spring Martins on a through ball that found the waiting foot of Kelyn Rowe. Rowe took a few dribbles before unleashing a vicious shot low and to the far post. Stefan Frei did well to get down and get a hand on the ball pushing it out for a corner kick.
Seattle struck quickly after the big save from Frei. Marco Pappa fed Tyrone Mears down the wing, Mears controlled the ball close to the end line before whipping a cross into the box. A cross which would find Obafemi Martins cutting in front of Andrew Farrell to slam home the header and double the Sounders lead.
In the 52nd minute, Diego Fagundez would find himself played in by a great ball from Jose Goncalves. Fagundez could not find the target though missing near post on the first scoring chance of the second half. Juan Agudelo would see a redirected header miss in the 64th minute on a blistering cross into the box from Teal Bunbury.
The Sounders would put the icing on the cake in the 67th minute on a beautiful piece of attacking football. The combination of Marco Pappa, Clint Dempsey, and Obafemi Martins sliced through the New England defense like a warm knife through butter. Marco Pappa gathered the ball in the Seattle half of the field. He passed to Clint Dempsey in the center circle, who fed the ball to Obafemi Martins with a step-over pass. Martins gave the ball back to Dempsey before making an overlapping run. Dempsey played the ball to Pappa before continuing his arching run. Pappa fed a through ball to the cutting Martins between two defenders. Martins forced Shuttleworth off his line before laying the ball off to a wide-open onside Dempsey who guided the ball into the empty net for the 3-0 lead.
To quote former Seattle commentator Arlo White it was “Champagne football” from the Sounders on that play.
New England was forced to play the final eight minutes of regular time plus stoppage time with only ten men after Teal Bunbury suffered an apparent shoulder injury on a hard shoulder-to-shoulder challenge from Lamar Neagle. The Revolution had just made their final substitution just a few minutes prior to the challenge.
It was not the start to the season that the New England Revolution were looking for coming off their run to the MLS Cup Final last December. Thankfully for them, they have 33 more games to go and their two best players on the road to recovery. They will take the field next Sunday in another nationally televised game at Yankee Stadium against New York City FC.
Seattle did come into the game with questions about their backline but the play of Brad Evans and Tyrone Mears may have silenced some of the doubters on Sunday. Evans and Marshall seemed to be on the same page in their first competitive game as a pairing. Mears, meanwhile, played very well at right back. He did have a hiccup in the second half that led to a scoring chance for the Revolution but that turned into nothing. Another note on Mears, the placement on his cross which led to the Martins goal was perfect. A thing of beauty that Seattle fans would love to see more of this season.
The Sounders return to the field next Saturday night as they welcome the San Jose Earthquakes to CenturyLink Field.