Sigi Schmid and the Seattle Sounders are in an incredible downward slide right now, having lost seven of their last eight matches. This time, it was a 0-3 defeat to their Cascadia rivals, the Vancouver Whitecaps at home in a very lackluster performance.
This win for Carl Robinson’s side will be a huge momentum booster for the rest of the season as they inch closer to the top of the Western Conference. They are just behind the Los Angeles Galaxy – who won as well – in the standings, but have more games in hand.
Vancouver Dominates Opening Minutes
The opening ten minutes of the match were completely dominated by the Canadian outfit as they ran rampant in the final third of the pitch. Vancouver got great possession, moving the ball from flank to flank as they stretched the opposition’s back four apart.
Their momentum came to fruition in the sixth minute following a free kick that was not cleared completely by the Sounders defense. Pa Modou Kah made a fantastic run to get on the end of the ball and volleyed it wonderfully into the back of the net.
As the half wore on, Seattle began to grow in confidence in the final third of the pitch. Unfortunately, they were lacking in creativity thanks in part to a fine defensive display from Kah and Kendall Waston in the center of the defense.
Halftime: Seattle Sounders 0-1 Vancouver Whitecaps
Lighting apparently does strike twice in Seattle and it came in the form of Kah netting for a second time shortly after the restart. A corner kick was taken very short, and worked around the tall center back. He made it look spectacular with a superb back heel.
Pedro Morales rounded off the scoring in the 75th minute of the match with a superb free kick just moments after coming onto the pitch. Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei set up a three man wall and Morales whipped in a ball that found its way into the bottom right hand corner of the goal.
Seattle Needs Answers
Yes, Clint Dempsey is back from the Gold Cup after missing the last seven matches, but he was fairly invisible for the majority of the time he was on the pitch, perhaps from tired legs, or perhaps from other outside factors.
One thing was evident though and that was that he missed his partner in crime, Obafemi Martins. The two have a remarkable chemistry and always seem to know where each other are on the pitch at any given moment.
Perhaps once the duo are reunited, the Sounders will get back to their normal potent offensive ways and hopefully this will get Schmid’s side back in the hunt for the Supporter’s Shield with just a couple of months left in the regular season.
These two sides will play each other again in Vancouver in the CONCACAF Champions League. Once they return to league play, though, the schedule does not get any easier as the Sounders will travel to Los Angeles and the Whitecaps play host to Real Salt Lake.