Top Stories

Rooney, United steamroll Sounders in Seattle

UTD - Getty

By CALEB SONNELAND

In the second match of its preseason tour of the States, Manchester United made its dominance on the world soccer scene known with a demolition of the hosting Seattle Sounders ending at 7-0 in front of 67,052 attendees.

Despite only being on the field for 45 minutes, Wayne Rooney showed just why he is considered one of the premier strikers in the world, notching a hat trick and giving the Sounders back line a torrid night.

Rooney came on at the halftime break and it only took him six minutes to get off the mark. The Red Devil was found 10 yards out by Nani before taking a touch and smashing the ball into the roof of the net.  He fizzed a left-footed shot into the far post 18 minutes later, before wrapping up the hat trick in the 72nd to put an exclamation point on his 45-minute shift. 

"It was nice to score.  It was a good workout, so I liked the result," said Rooney.  "It's always a big thing to get your preseason under your belt, so that's the main thing."

Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid started a near identical lineup to the Starting XI that topped Colorado the week prior, a side which stood toe-to-toe with United up to halftime, earning a 0-1 difference. However, at the break, Schmid altered his squad almost completely, putting in fringe players to contest with the likes of Rooney and Park Ji-Sung.  The difference between the two Sounders lineups was starkly clear as United cruised to a 6-0 second-half performance.

"You ever heard the cliché 'a game of two halves'?  Hopefully, it's a learning experience, because we put some young guys out on the field in the second half.

"Everybody thinks they can play in the Premier League.  They think that if they got the break, or if this had worked out or if that had worked out, I could have made it.  Actually, no, you can't. You need to learn to figure it out."

The Premier League champions opened scoring early in the 15th minute when Michael nodded home an Ashley Young cross for his second goal of the preseason.  Young was thrown a heavy shoulder from James Riley inside the area but the winger got his cross off, and Owen was left unmarked at the back post for a free header to make it 1-0.

Owen's replacement, Mame Biram Diouf, made it 2-0 shortly after the break after a beautiful through ball from Nani allowed the striker in behind the Sounders back line.  Diouf controlled, rounded Terry Boss and cooly converted into the far side-netting in the 49th minute.

Other halftime substitutes Mame Biram Diouf, Park Ji-Sung and Gabriel Obertan registered goals in the steam rolling, with Nani and Obertan each notching two assists on the night.

"They're one of the best counter-attacking teams in the world, and we gave them all the space they needed to do what they're best at," said Keller after the game.

It wasn't all bad for Seattle, as it was able to welcome back long-time absentee O'Brian White back to action late in the game.  The striker came on late but got a few touches on the ball having been out since April with a serious blood clot injury.

Lamar Neagle, James Riley, Pat Noonann and trialist Mrisho Alfani Ngassa all had good efforts on goal, but none were able to convert as Seattle was condemned to a thumping at home.

Keller has been at the center of some controversy in the build up to the MLS All Star game on July 27th. After initially getting voted onto the Starting XI, Keller then found out he was omitted from the 22-man squad by the league.  However, everything has been settled and you can expect to see the shot stopper accounted for at the match.

""I'll be there," said Keller.  "It worked out in the end, let's just put it that way."

—————-

What did you make of the game?  Who was your Man of the Match?  Is 7-0 an accurate reflection of the game?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I couldn’t agree more. The Sounders need to focus on finishing top of the league. We don’t need injuries to our top players from a dumb friendly.

    Reply
  2. Yeah, I don’t get the surprise either. I really dislike Manchester United so I didn’t go. But if you’re a huge ManU fan or EPL Geek it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to see your guys up close and in person for fifty bucks and bus fare. Kind of a no-brainer unless you’re dirt broke.

    Reply
  3. Totally disagree. Play them, take the money, let the fans see Rooney do his thing, don’t get anyone hurt, and keep legs fresh for games that count. The league’s rep is growing, no one who matters will look at these results seriously.

    Reply
  4. That wasn’t even our B team out there. More like C-. There were guys out there who haven’t gotten into an Open Cup or Reserve League game.

    Reply
  5. No no no no. I don’t care if we lose 21-0, I want my Sounders’ starters fresh and healthy for games that count.

    Reply
  6. I love how everyone always thinks they’re the *only* people in the world who actually read beyond the headlines.

    Reply
  7. Um, our starters were down 1-0 at half. ManU lit up a C team while playing the likes of Wayne Rooney. Until last night the only minutes Michael Tetteh has played since being drafted came on a brief loan to a USL side. We had third- and fourth-string guys playing out of position because Sigi wanted everyone to get a taste.

    We didn’t need a lesson in humility, and we didn’t get one.

    Reply
  8. Best football ever seen by an American side? That’s why people hate Seattle. You have no sense of anything besides yourselves which manifests itself in your unearned arrogance.

    10 man KC up 2 to 1 on ManU at halftime last year. And, oh for good measure they went ahead and won the thing…just sayin.

    Reply
  9. It was a plenty big stage when you arrogant Pr!cks were talking about it before the game. Once you get your rears handed to you all the sudden it didn’t mean anything?

    By the way I was at Arrowhead last year and at worst the crowd was 50/50 kind of like yours was from the look of it on TV.

    Do you know why everyone loves the fact you got schooled? It’s because of the casual arrogance you guys display with few results to justify it. I suppose if you have to tell yourselves you’re the greatest team because so many of you go out to watch an average team then it must be true. Or might it be to stave off the urge of all Seattlites to continue your cities storied tradition of commiting suicide.

    Reply
  10. Only a bit unsporting? I’ve never seen a preseason friendly where starters got subbed in after the half. Was at Dynamo v. Bolton last night, and Owen Coyle played starters for the first half, then subbed out just as many as Kinnear did in the second. Sir Alex just needed to re-inflate his ego a bit after a few months off.

    Reply
  11. To bad the games 90 minutes long. How long are you Sounders maroons going to keep giving us the same sad story. You got your asses handed to you.

    Reply
  12. Okay, to have your wish, we should play these teams when we (MLS) are out of season. The reason why Seattle and LAG and all the other MLS sides are putting in reserves is b/c it’ harder to get in the playoffs, it’s a competitive league (at least more competitive that in the past), teams are dealing with injuries and have big games coming up. MLS games absolutely take these games seriously–they recognize the likely of injury and definitely fatigue for players who start.

    Reply
  13. On serious MLS fans who watched the game and Seattle fans will know that. The rest of the world will see “7-0” and reach (or reinforce) a verdict about MLS. It’s an unfortunate result that does MLS no favors.

    Reply

Leave a Reply to JaneyK Cancel reply