The New England Revolution became the first MLS team since April to post a road victory at Qwest Field on Thursday night, riding a Shalrie Joseph goal to post a 1-0 upset of suddenly struggling Seattle.
Steve Ralston set up Joseph for a 21st minute finish to give the Revs their third win in five matches and pull New England to within three points of Colorado, Chivas USA and Toronto FC, the three teams currently holding the final MLS playoff spots.
Seattle had its share of chances during the match, including a 44th minute penalty kick missed by Fredy Montero.
Seattle, which has gone 1-3 in the month of August, suffered its first home defeat since a 1-0 setback vs. Kansas City on April 11, a game that saw Kasey Keller earn a first-half red card.
The Sounders still hold third place in the West, and a playoff spot, but that could change if Seattle doesn't snap out of its current funk. A brutal road schedule looms, beginning with a trip to Houston on Sunday. Seattle's remaining road schedule includes trips to Houston, New England, D.C. United and Columbus, four teams that are a combined 23-3-14 at home this season.
Here is Joseph's goal for those who missed it:
What did you think of New England's performance on Thursday? See the Revs as a serious playoff threat? Starting to think Seattle might not make the playoffs? Still believe the Sounders will find their form when Freddie Ljungberg comes back?
Share your thoughts below.
BTW, I like the Seattle fans. TV hype aside, they are a credit to the league, and have not attacked visiting fans or booed injured players like fans in some other cities.
For those uninformed fans who assert that Revolution is a hack team, they are 14/15 this year in fouls committed and 13/15 in yellow cards. The irony is getting a little thick when DCu fans complain about hacking, and Fire fans complain about diving.
jaqua was absolute garbage. as a long time sounders fan, he needs to sit and give le toux some time up front. guy’s a workhorse and forward, not outside mid, is his position of choice.
My Sounders luvin girlfriend just dumped me… can anyone tell me how to join aces? I just wanna belong.
HomeyBoehme-
“I for one am glad that Seattle is doing so well (on and off the field) because it shows that you don’t have to manufacture a fan base like other MLS clubs have tried (and failed) to do.”
You can’t have a more manufactured fan base than Seattle. Their current fanbase was not fans of the USL Flounders. ManBoobs FC (D. Carey, P. Allen and S. Schmid) et.al. cooked up a nice fanbase, supported by the Sonics moving to OKC.
re: steve nicol
I thought it was fun to watch him, and I’m a Seattle fan. Notice how they didn’t show Sigi at all? it’s cuz Sigi looks lethargic all the time, like he’s gonna fall asleep. Whereas Steve was passionate, flailing up his arms at every play that went against his team.
In similar fashion, it’s also interesting to see passionate people in these comments got regarding seattle. whenever SBI posts on a Seattle game, you get the extremes (some with logic, some w/o).
it shows how the rivalries are brewing, the disgust marinating in your minds, and the stalwart bastion of us Sounders fans countering each heated attack.
I think it’s great for MLS!
interesting to see so much Seattle bashing. guess everyone likes to pick on the new kid on the block. just imagine when Philly gets in it…
Re: Montero
I’m a big fan of Montero. He was undoubtedly the most volatile player last night; when he was up, he was making plays, giving precise 1-touch passes, and creating chances in the final 1/3. when he was down, he missed the PK and got a yellow.
I don’t see why so many people are berating him. He’s one of the most dynamic players in the league.
Last night’s issues underscored (heh) Seattle’s lack of depth when Freddy is out. Montero was the only creative guy on the field, and Alonso did a little too, but not much.
The problem is Montero is the finisher. last night when he pulled back to create plays, the person on the other end was 1) too slow (jaqua every time, evans missed a few) or 2) can’t let go of the ball (Zakuani – just cross the darn ball! let go of it for cryin’ out loud).
Jaqua messes up too much in the run of play. SFC needs a faster forward to work with Montero when Lundy is out.
I’d trade One-Foot Fredy Montero for Shalrie straight up, then bring in LeToux up top.
That would be fun to watch.
I wouldn’t say Seattle was lost without Ljungberg. Relatively lost, maybe, but they were still more creative than most of the teams in the league last night. Montero’s workrate was disgustingly bad though. He only seemed to run when he wanted to annoy Reis. It’s shame. He’s definitely got the talent to be leading the league in goals.
@ Eric K
C’mon Eric, it is pretty much a given that the Red Bulls are being excluded from any MLS conversation this year.
Zico – the Revs play the ugliest soccer in the league? Have you seen any Red Bulls games this season?!
This is the 1st MLS game I’ve watched in years. The 1st thing I noticed was the fans. I wanted to be there to enjoy the atmosphere. It’s a shame that all teams don’t have that kind of support. I would love to support one of them but my part of the country is not served by MLS……..
@ Camille — I’m a Sounders fan and I agree 100%, Joseph was the best player on the pitch last night. The league’s first target midfielder?
Joseph was good last night, but it is hard to look bad when Vagenas is marking you. At the game I thought he had some great touches.
See RSL last goal in a match for another example.
One thing that may be getting lost in the shuffle is the pick up a few weeks back of Gonzalez for the Sounders. From his left back position he was probably the best player getting forward with dangerous crosses.
Shalrie Joseph is the best player in the league. He carried the Revs on his back last night and deserves more credit than he is getting here on SBI.
Also, keep your eyes out for Darius Barnes, he played a great match and like I’ve been saying since we drafted him, he is shaping up to be a real steal.
@lassidawg
Head over to the RSL forum on bigsoccer.com. There is a thread for out of towners that has a lot of info on places near the stadium to eat and see games etc. There is a Skybox sports bar/restaurant a few miles from stadium and there is a another sports bar a little closer as well. Hit that thread and if it doesn’t answer you ask away and people will fill you in.
^^^^
sorry agree with Waterlewd
@ win
agreed. He got beat to the ball and kicked the man, plain and simple. He took forever to wind and wait for the ball and by his actions was just a little bit careless.
@Win
It’s a big difference when the dangerous play actually results in a direct foul. Even so, I don’t think that was the case in this call. Montero was kicked because the NE Rev player missed the ball. I didn’t think it was dangerous at all. Both players were obviously going for the ball, one simply failed and fouled the other in the process. The referee didn’t give a yellow card in this instance because no such dangerous intent was judged. Anyway, I thought it was definitely the right call, and I’m a neutral.
If the Sounders had played on July 4th there would have been 30K+ fans at the game.
I was not and many others weren’t going to pay at least $15 more to watch the excting match up between USA and Bermuda on a holiday weekend.
I however am willing and did pay for airfare, ticket and hotel to go to the closest qualifier in SLC on Sept 5.
Side question is there any where in the Sandy area to sit down and watch some college football while preparing with some beers for the real game that evening.
If USA soccer had been smarter they would have played the Honduras match in Seattle and the game would have been at least 2/3 USA fans. I am assuming they would have given Sounder season ticker holders a shot at tickets first.
if the sounders played on the 4th would they draw 15k- my point on the friendlies wasn’t attendance, but performance, but that’s not really fair. that was underhanded and invalid on about 50 points
here are the numbers usa group matches only- not fair to compare other venues w/other groups
seattle- july 4th- holiday/weekend- 15,387
wash dc-july 8th weekday- 26,079
foxboro-july 11th weekend-24,137
not the point homey, attendance for sounders is great for mls, and football in usa & canada. nobody wants them to tone anything down.certainly numbers don’t lie,no one can or did dispute that. maybe they are sounders fans and not football fans. properly comprehend what you read.
@ harry
Not sure I understand your comment about the friendlies, both were sell-outs this year. And the Gold Cup games were on the 4TH OF JULY… I’m pretty sure, as I did, that people had other plans that day/weekend.
By the way, whoever said that the Revs only go out and play for a draw, you should learn to read the standings before you make crap up. If you had, you’d read that the Revs have 6 Draws which makes there only 4 teams in all the MLS with less draws. And only 1 of those teams – Chivas – has more wins.
@Boom
yes and it should have been a straight red.
Disclosure: I am a fan of the Minnesota Thunder.
Don’t understand all the ragging on passionate Seattle fans. The Sounders existed in the USL for quite some time before coming to MLS. Why, when almost all MLS fans should be excited about new franchises bringing passionate fans and crowds of 30,000+, anyone would begrudge them for doing more than any “expansion team” has done in the past seems to come more from jealousy than anything. (I seem to remember Toronto fans suffering the same slings and arrows before Seattle came on the scene.)
Why you would criticize the Sounders for “only 13,000” fans showing up for a Gold Cup game? Really? How many fans show up for Gold Cup games for other teams?
And yeah, I’d really love it if Seattle “toned it down” so that only 12,000 people showed up to MLS games instead of 30,000. I’m sure it would be great for the MLS as a whole if Seattle fans just stopped being passionate about their club and started caring as much as New Yorkers do for their NYRB team? Seriously…again…jealousy, plain and simple.
I for one am glad that Seattle is doing so well (on and off the field) because it shows that you don’t have to manufacture a fan base like other MLS clubs have tried (and failed) to do.
I really do not see what everyone’s problem with New England’s style of play is. With the exception of Nicol’s “up yours” gesture I did not really see much wrong with New England last night. If Seattle had converted even a fourth of their chances they would have won that game easily.
And as far as MLS officiating goes, everyone knows that MLS refs are terrible. In fact, the statement “the refs were horrible” is pretty much a given after every game. That is simply a fact, and not necessarily anyone “blaming the loss on the ref”.
@zico –
Wasn’t it a Fire player that broke a NE player’s ankle in that “scrappy” playoff game last year?