The Seattle Sounders ended the New York Red Bulls unbeaten run, as they win 3-1 in their home opener. Clint Dempsey, playing in his first match at the CenturyLink Field since his return from an irregular heartbeat, scored the opening goal from the spot. Bradley Wright-Phillips leveled the match before Jordan Morris and Harry Shipp rounded off the scoring.
This was a good win for the Sounders. They started out the season slow with a loss and a draw, but picking up three points against one of the better sides in the Eastern Conference will always be a confidence booster.
In the 22nd minute, Felipe tested Stefan Frei from well outside the area on one of the best chances of the opening half of the match. His shot dipped, swerved, and took a short hop before Frei was able to stop it from getting behind him.
Sounders pile on pressure
The action started to pick up slightly during the middle portion of the first 45 minutes. In the 27th, Joevin Jones had options in the box if he had chosen to cross the ball. But instead, he shot straight at Luis Robles who made the save at the near post.
Seattle won a penalty a minute later, given up by the New York Red Bulls’ goalkeeper after clipping Morris inside the area following a poor back pass. Dempsey slotted his penalty shot comfortably into the back of the net.
Right after the restart, the Sounders continued to pile on the pressure on the NYRB back line. Harry Shipp received the ball on the left side of the pitched, slid past a couple of defenders before firing a shot on goal. His effort, however, was not a good one as Robles collected it right away.
It could have been 2-0 for Seattle two minutes before the halftime interval, with Shipp the architect again. Shipp was surrounded by a few Red Bulls defenders near the edge of the area. He laid the ball off to Nicolas Lodeiro, who proceeded to use his lethal left foot to hit the left post with his attempt.
Goals galore in the second half
To start the second half, Jordan Morris tried an audacious chip to test Robles in between the posts. Morris’ lob, though, hit the roof of the net and never really troubled the visiting goalkeeper.
Bradley Wright-Phillips then did what Bradley Wright-Phillips so often does, as he scored the equalizing goal in the 57th minute of play. Sal Zizzo sent a perfect delivery to the middle of the box where Wright-Phillips met the cross with his head. The header deflected off of Gustav Svensson and the top left corner of the goal to pull things level.
The home side was soon in front through a great team goal six minutes after the hour mark. Lodeiro overhit a pass out wide to Jones, but the left back chased it down near the byline. Jones pulled off a sensational move by nutmegging Zizzo, before sending it back to Lodeiro. Lodeiro then lifted the ball towards the right post where Morris headed it past Robles
A deflected goal with 12 minutes remaining in the match sealed the three points for the Sounders. Joevin Jones, who had a sensational game, had the initial long-range effort, but Shipp got a slight touch on the ball, which made it change directions. It curled just inside of the left post, fooling Robles who had dove the other way.