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D.C. United vs. Seattle Sounders: Match Night Commentary

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Less than 12 hours to go before the World Cup kicks off, but fans looking to get one final MLS fix can tune in to tonight's meeting up in the northwest as D.C. United (2-8-1) takes on the Seattle Sounders (4-5-3) at 10:00pm on ESPN2.

While attention of soccer fans across the nation are fixated on the southern tip of Africa, tonight is a chance for either Seattle or D.C. to enter the break on a high note. The Sounders are coming off a 3-0 win against New England and are out to defeat an Eastern Conference team for a second straight week. United would be happy to earn a point on the road for the first time all year.

This is Travis Clark and I'll be providing live commentary throughout tonight's match. Leave any thoughts or comments in the section below. Enjoy the match.

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FINAL– D.C. United 3, Seattle 2. Kennedy blows his whistle, saving D.C. United's bacon. Keller's mistakes prove costly to Seattle, who almost pulled off a huge come back. Sigi Schmid has a few words with the officials, not looking too happy with something. That's all for me tonight. Check back to SBI for all your World Cup coverage needs in June/July. Good night.

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92nd minute– Wow what a turn of events. Seattle with just a few minutes left, United all of a sudden looks obviously shaken.

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91st minuteGOAL Seattle! Ljungberg creates space on the left flank, and Montero gets his head on the end of it. How much stoppage time left?

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90th minuteGOAL Seattle! Riley plays a one-two, carries the ball into the box, takes a deflection off Rice and past Perkins.

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89th minute– D.C. maintain control of the ball, start killing off the game. Qwest quiet as a library, fans heading to the exit.

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87th minute– Sounders continue to dominate possession, but lack any kind of true attacking intent. United happy to watch minutes tick off the board, and seal the win.

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85th minute– Seattle with no subs, and are knocking the ball around, trying to salvage at least one goal.

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83rd minute– Levesque gets a tame header on goal, Perkins saves at full stretch.

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82nd minute– D.C. 3, Seattle 0. Tiny mistakes have killed the Sounders, who haven't had a terrible game, at least judging by the score.

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79th minuteGOAL D.C.! A lofted free kick is headed by Pontius across the goal, and it loops up and curves over the Seattle defense and beats Keller, knocked in by Cristman — Pontius gets credit for the goal, a hat trick, and is replaced by Jaime Moreno.

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78th minute– Excellent save by Perkins! Marshall has the goal mouth at his mercy after a deflection on a corner, but his shot is saved as Perkins gets in front of the shot to punch it out.

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77th minute– Desperate defending now from D.C. Jakovic stretches out a leg to deflect for another corner.

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74th minute– 16 minutes to go… can D.C. hold on? Noonan comes off for Roger Levesque. Not a great deal of attacking options off Seattle's bench.

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73rd minute– United playing ultra-defensively, and has created nothing on attack in the second half. A second straight shutout would be a massive achievement for a team that has struggled so much on the road.

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72nd minute– Qwest is quiet as less than 20 minutes are left in the game. Nyassi cut back to create acres of space against Rice, and James blocks his shot out for a corner.

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69th minute– Ljungberg gets down the left side, behind D.C.'s defense, but James breaks it up. Again.

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68th minute– Riley hits a teasing cross into the middle, but once again it's headed clear.

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66th minute– Sanna Nyassi comes on for Steve Zakuani.

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64th minute– D.C. can't maintain anything resembling possession at the moment, but Seattle isn't really creating anything dangerous with the ball.

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62nd minute– Luciano Emilio trots off to be replaced by Adam Cristman. Emilio anonymous tonight.

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61st minute– Great combination from Montero and Riley unlocks the defense but Riley tries to take a touch and is smothered off the ball. D.C. can't afford to sit back and play defense for 30 minutes.

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59th minute– D.C.'s defense currently features three reserves, including Rice (on debut), James (second start), and McTavish (third start).

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58th minute– A Ljungberg shot is deflected out for a corner, but that could have gone in off King.

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56th minute– Seattle must be patient, and hit D.C. on the flanks. Zakuani beats McTavish, though James is there to clear for a corner.

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55th minute– Emilio has been invisible for United, looking slow to react as the play develops in front of him. He could be second to sub out for D.C.

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52nd minute– Riley tries a long shot/chip from outside the box, but it sails well over.

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50th minute– Seattle look frustrated, which suits United perfectly. Rice is making his MLS debut tonight.

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48th minute– Graye getting medical attention. D.C. back line is very light in reserve, with Barry Rice coming in.

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46th minute– Ianni with a poor tackle on Pontius. D.C. free kick comes to nothing, poor delivery from Quaranta.

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45th minute– Seattle starts the second half.

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HALFTIME– On the replay, Pontius' shot was straight at Keller. Very poor.

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HALFTIME– So what changes does Seattle make? They need to keep their composure, keep testing D.C.'s defense through Montero, Ljunberg and Zakuani, and finish chances.

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HALFTIME– Pontius scores his first two goals of the season, and it's exactly what D.C. needs before the World Cup break if the result stands up. However, given how porous their defense has been all season, Seattle still has a good chance to mount a come back in the second half. They'll need a better final ball from Ljungberg, and to find Zakuani on the left wing against McTavish.

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HALFTIME– D.C. United 2, Seattle 0. Whoever predicted this halftime score just won a lot of money as Mihcael Kennedy blows for the break. Can Seattle come back? D.C. has stunned and silenced a sellout crowd
, with two somewhat lucky goals by Chris Pontius.

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45th minute– Keller looks a bit shaken up, but the mistake is reminiscent of the gaffe against the Galaxy earlier this year. Shocking to see something like that from a player like Keller.

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44th minuteGOAL D.C. Pontius with goal, dancing through the Seattle defense before unleashing a hard shot straight at Keller, who can't hang on and the ball trickles over the line.

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43rd minute– Ljungberg gets a yellow out of frustration, showing James with two hands after the defender shields Freddie off the ball.

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42nd minute– Seattle keeping the pressure on, and United happy to just clear their lines when under duress at the back.

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40th minute– Can Seattle answer? A goal before the half would be a huge boost heading into the locker room.

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39th minuteGOAL D.C.! Pontius fakes a shot from long range, getting two Sounder defenders to bite, and the shot deflects off of a Seattle defender and past Keller.

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37th minute– Ljungberg cuts inside and shoots over Perkins in goal. Will Seattle get frustrated again? United has shown signs of weakness, but have yet to break.

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34th minute– Zakuani does a good job to turn on McTavish, though Noonan can only deflect wide after Zakuani's cross.

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33rd minute– James finds Najar on the right, and the 17-year-old finally bests Gonzalez, only to scuff a shot straight to Keller.

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32nd minute– Graye drills in a decent cross, but it's headed straight to Keller.

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30th minute– Montero earns a free kick, but the quick restart is crossed straight to Perkins. Will Seattle be snake bitten on offense again?

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28th minute– Graye is getting forward and attacking with abandon, but needs to make sure Ljungberg doesn't exploit that gap.

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26th minute– The turf is very slick, though as expected, United looks a bit more uncomfortable on the surface.

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23rd minute– Game has a good back-and-forth flow to it, as Seattle now enjoying the run of play.

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22nd minute– While Ljungberg looks good, Seattle would do well to try their leg on the left-hand side. Zakuani gets a touch in, but a poor cross goes straight to Perkins.

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20th minute– Ljungberg is on his game tonight, dancing through Julius James and Jordan Graye with ease. Final ball is lacking, however.

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19th minute– At the same time, United is pressing forward in numbers, and Seattle can hit them on the counter. Quiet 20 minutes from Montero, Zakuani to this point.

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17th minute– United is looking confident, despite the shaky back line. They've done well to keep the ball in Seattle's end, forcing turnovers in the midfield with strong tackles.

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13th minute– Parke misjudges a bounce off a throw in, allowing Emilio to get behind the Seattle defense, but the Brazilian's touch betrays him and carries over the line. Down on the other end, Montero is whistled for offside.

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12th minute– Ljungberg is looking lively tonight on Seattle's right side, hard for a youngster like Graye to contain. The Swede earns another corner that is cleared by D.C.

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11th minute– Leo Gonzalez is shutting Najar down with ease at this point, the Costa Rican using his physical advantage to limit Najar on the right side.

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9th minute– Not a bad start from United's perspective. They've managed to keep Seattle at bay, and are possessing the ball decently enough.

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7th minute– Parke has a free header and a chance to open the scoring, but his shot barely misses the far corner of Perkins' net.

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6th minute– Ljungberg splits two United defenders, and James clears his low cross for a corner.

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5th minute– Emilio has to have an impact tonight if he hopes to extend his short-term deal with United. He can't get on the end of a Quaranta long ball.

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4th minute– Najar is going to have track back to help McTavish mark Zakuani, though like-wise for the former number one draft pick.

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3rd minute– Both teams knocking it back and forth, Seattle trying a couple of long balls to test the United defense.

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1st minute– D.C. get the game started.

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PRE-GAME– About set to get underway in Seattle, with another large crowd out west.

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PRE-GAME– Leave any predictions for tonight's match in the comments section below.

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PRE-GAME– A point for D.C. would be a great result, considering their ineptitude on the road this season. They've lost all four games on the road, conceding 10 goals in four games, while managing just two goals of their own when playing away from RFK.

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PRE-GAME– The 12-hour mark until the World Cup kicks off is upon us as as they near start in Seattle.

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PRE-GAME– Seattle needs to come out and attack United's back line. Steve Zakuani against Devon McTavish is a matchup that should favor the Sounders all evening.

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PRE-GAME– Emilio gets his first start since he was re-acquired by D.C., while Stephen King returns to Seattle for the first time since he was traded across the country. Julius James returns to the starting lineup for United, as Rodney Wallace's injury forces Curt Onalfo to juggle the back line. The Sounders go with the exact same lineup as last weekend against New England.

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PRE-GAME– Here are the starting lineups:

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

———–Montero——Noonan——-

Zakuani——-Evans———Ljungberg

—————–Ianni———————

Gonzalez—-Parke—–Marshall——–Riley

———————–Keller———————

D.C. UNITED

————Quaranta———Emilio—————

Pontius—–Simms——King—-Najar

Graye———James———-Jakovic———-McTavish

———————-Perkins————————–

Comments

  1. It should be noted that Sounders fans had very little say in the fact that they didn’t have a club for the previous 15 years. So using this as an argument is pretty weak.

    Reply
  2. Revolution is my name:

    Did you see Seattle’s game tonight? Have you watched them much this season? I think by the time the season’s done they may have experienced the equivalent of 15 years of agony in one season!:)

    Reply
  3. I think its more he seems like a nicer guy when he isnt the alpha dog. When he was with arsenal Henry and others kept him in line. With Sweden Zlatan’s presence serves the same purpose.

    Reply
  4. I think Sigi Schmid and the fans might have to face up to the fact that they are playing two midfielders as strikers. They are also very predictable and easy to defend against. They are both short and light weight so they have to constantly force their way through the defense on the ground with short passes and their opponents know it.

    Bring on Nkufo!

    I’m sorry but Schmid has to take a lot of blame for this mess. It’s a good thing Seattle’s fans have season tickets! They better get this mess straightened out soon or next year will be the biggest drop in attendance for a single team in MLS history!

    Reply
  5. I keep hoping Noonan will become an excellent player again. So many players just seem to fade for no obvious reason. It seems like he was only a great player when he was playing with Twellman.

    Reply
  6. ha that wasnt meant to be malicious by the way, i’m just a DC fan and i have to take the chances i get this season 🙂

    Reply
  7. Agree, the fan base is great and should be applauded. The football is atrocious and so very predictable. Freddy down the right, Zack down the left and nothing happens in front of goal, absolutely nothing.

    Reply
  8. Really you’re going after a fanbase? Is that a good idea when we’re trying to Grow soccer in America with the MLS to go after it’s fanbase?

    Reply
  9. As an NYRB Fan, I am loving this melt down. The the sight of a despair on the faces of the MLS’s self proclaimed “most important fan-base” makes for great comedy.

    Reply
  10. This is the type of situation where I think you are really screwed most of the time with Sigi Schmid as your coach. He is so defensive minded he probably won’t make a serious effort to throw everything at D.C. to get back in the game until it is too late. Given what has been happening to Seattle this year perhaps he will finally see the light and take the risk.

    Reply
  11. Sounders run down the wings over and over and get nothing in front of goal. DC put two decent balls into the center and get 2 goals. Sigi won’t change in the second half, all attacks will stay wide and finish empty.

    Reply
  12. I couldn’t care less for either club and know I’ll likely see Montero miss 9 shots and DC play the way DC has played this year…

    …but hey, it’s a soccer match and we’re hours away from the World Cup. It’ll suffice and give me my fix.

    Game on!

    Reply

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