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Seattle Sounders FC at D.C. United: Match Night Commentary

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By AVI CREDITOR

Some of Major League Soccer's newest faces could see the pitch in the nation's capital, as the Seattle Sounders try and avenge an earlier home loss to D.C. United at RFK Stadium (8 p.m., ESPN2/ESPN Deportes).

Seattle's Blaise N'Kufo and D.C.'s Branko Boskovic and Pablo Hernandez have all received their international transfer certificates and are included in their respective benches for the match. 

Their potential inclusions would only spice up what has turned into quite the coast-to-coast rivalry. The two teams met in the U.S. Open Cup final last year, with Seattle winning in Washington. Chris Pontius' hat trick helped United return the favor this season in the final MLS match before the World Cup, a 3-2 D.C. victory at Qwest Field.

I'll be providing live commentary from RFK Stadium, so please feel free to follow along and share any thoughts and opinions in the comments section below. Enjoy the match (commentary after the jump).

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POSTGAME – That's all for me from RFK. Thanks for following along, and be sure to chime in with any postgame chatter in the comments section below. Have a great night everybody!

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POSTGAME – Kasey Keller earns my Man of the Match honors for coming up huge on numerous occasions despite appearing to injure his ankle. Seattle had to have this result, and Keller's a big reason why the Sounders will leave town with three points.

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POSTGAME – United's new additions Pablo Hernandez and Branko Boskovic couldn't contribute much in limited time in their respective debuts. What a backbreaking loss for D.C., which now has to put this in the rear view mirror and focus on Sunday's match against Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle and the Los Angeles Galaxy.

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POSTGAME – Blaise N'Kufo watches his first Sounders match from the sideline and sees Roger Levesque become the improbable hero, finishing off a Fredy Montero cross for an 89th-minute winner.

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90th Minute – That will do it. Seattle takes the road points and avenges a 3-2 home loss to D.C. back on June 10.

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90th Minute – Keller times his run and beats Cristman to Graye's long ball in the box. Keller's making a strong case for Man of the Match honors.

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90th Minute – Poor attempt by Quaranta, but four minutes of stoppage time remain.

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90th Minute – D.C. with a glimpse of hope. 30-yard free kick from the left after a Seattle foul.

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89th Minute – What a dagger. Nyassi started the break by stealing possession in D.C.'s end, he found Montero on the right, and the cross to the far post was met by Levesque's diving header. Jakovic misses the assignment on Levesque.

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89th MinuteGOAL SEATTLE!!! ROGER LEVESQUE IS THE ANSWER AFTER ALL! 1-0 SEATTLE!

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88th Minute – Sanna Nyassi is Seattle's last sub, as Pat Noonan comes off. Blaise N'Kufo's debut will have to wait for another night.

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87th Minute – Zakuani just misses left! Chances end to end, but no goals.

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86th Minute – WHAT INSTINCTS BY KELLER! A teasing cross through the area deflected off Marshall and Riley and Keller's dive to his right saved a D.C. goal.

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85th Minute – Yellow card for Leo Gonzalez. A blatant pull of Quaranta's jersey to prevent the D.C. forward from having yards of space in front of him.

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84th Minute – Roger Levesque is not the answer up top for Seattle, that much is clear. Doesn't look like we're going to see N'Kufo tonight, though. He's standing with his arms folded behind the Seattle goal.

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83rd Minute – James with another great play to take possession from Montero, and the Seattle forward shows his frustration by spinning James to the ground. Could've been a card there. James has impressed tonight.

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82nd Minute – Najar with a strong tackle to deny Zakuani from getting through to the box. Nice show of versatility for Najar.

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81st Minute – Adam Cristman comes on for Devon McTavish as Curt Onalfo is going for the win. 3-4-3 look for D.C., though Najar has shifted back to an attacking right back role.

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79th Minute – N'Kufo's talking to the Seattle assistants. Will there be another DP cameo tonight? 

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76th Minute – SAVE KELLER! He just gets a fingertip on Quaranta's blast from distance.

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75th Minute – Nice positioning by Perkins to pluck Zakuani's cross from Montero's reach by the goal mouth.

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72nd Minute – WE HAVE A DP SIGHTING. Branko Boskovic has entered for Stephen King.

Osvaldo Alonso is on for Mike Seamon for Seattle.

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71st Minute – Hernandez clamoring for a penalty, but Marshall just pulled the chair out from under him and he fell on his own. Not a great introduction from Hernandez to the MLS referees.

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70th Minute – Montero speculates from distance and gets his shot deflected out for another Seattle corner. Double digits in corner kicks for the Sounders, but nothing to show for it.

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67th Minute – Two saves by Keller! He stayed in the game and blocked two close-range attempts from Pablo Hernandez before taking a foul. He's definitely gimpy, but well enough to stay in. D.C. fans aren't buying the injury, but they're all blind.

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65th Minute – WHAT A PLAY BY IANNI! Keller came WAY off his line and out of the area to try and cut off a streaking Najar and he appeared to take a knock to his ankle. Quaranta took a pass from Najar and tried to chip into the goal from inside the area, but Ianni headed it off the line and out of play. WOW. Keller might be shaken up too, he looked to have fallen oddly on that ankle.

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63rd Minute – N'Kufo is warming up leisurely behind Keller's goal. Should the scoreline stay the same for another 15 minutes I can't see him NOT coming on to try and find a winner.

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62nd Minute – Parke is shaken up and the medics come out to treat him while both teams furiously drink water on the sideline. He collided with Hernandez on a run inside the Seattle box and looked to take an arm to the midsection.

Tyrone Marshall has come on for Parke as the Sounders' first sub.

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61st Minute – 13,716 on hand tonight at RFK.

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59th Minute – Pontius fires wide left after a nice run down the left and curling toward the middle.

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59th Minute – Gorgeous touch from Montero to try and put Leo Gonzalez through on goal but Jakovic comes to the rescue again with the deflection.

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57th Minute – Hernandez lines up at forward on the left side, paired up top with Quaranta.

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56th Minute – Pablo Hernandez makes his D.C. United debut, coming on for Moreno.

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55th Minute – A wicked bender from Montero just misses the far post! Another dangerous kick from distance for Montero, who has had to do way too much on his own tonight.

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53rd Minute – James trips up Zakuani and sees yellow for it. Was a foul he had to commit, Zakuani had a full head of steam going down Main Street. Free kick from about 35 yards coming for the Sounders.

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52nd Minute – Damian Manso has equalized for Pachuca. Houston 1, Pachuca 1, early second half.

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50th Minute – Dangerous moments for Seattle's back line as Quaranta springs Najar down the right Keller just gets a hand on his cross to the far post. Najar+Open Space=Look out.

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49th Minute – Ianni's diving header airmails over the bar. Perkins is none too pleased that he got that much space to work with down the center of the box.

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48th Minute – Zakuani with a dangerous cross to the far post. Graye beats Noonan to the spot and kicks it out for a corner. 

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46th Minute – Welcome back. No halftime subs for either side.

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HALFTIME – FYI: Houston leads Pachuca 1-0 in Superliga action. Joseph Ngenwya scored the goal for the Dynamo. Jose Francisco Torres is in Pachuca's lineup, Herculez Gomez is on the bench.

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HALFTIME – D.C. 0, Seattle 0. Jakovic and James stood out for D.C., Zakuani and Montero for Seattle.

You know what this game could use? An infusion of Designated Players.

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45th Minute – No stoppage time. Alex Prus has seen enough. Water break.

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45th Minute – Montero pulls off a clever chip from 20+ yards but it's well left. He needs help up top. Paging Blaise N'Kufo…

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42nd Minute – There's a nice run by Moreno! He beats Riley to the spot inside the area and gets his head on a Najar cross, but the header goes wide left. Better from the veteran D.C. captain.

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41st Minute – Great defending by James to close out on Montero and eventually win the ball. The play of D.C.'s centerbacks has been the bright spot in a lackluster first half.

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40th Minute – Levesque with an awful shot from the top of the area that doesn't trouble Perkins. I know N'Kufo has hardly been with this team, but how long can he sit and wait while chances like those are wasted?

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38th Minute – Moreno looks lost on the ball for United. Doesn't have the wheels to go at/by defenders, doesn't have the vision and spacing to be effective. He's got to come out at halftime for United.

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37th Minute – Lovely tackle by Jakovic stops another Zakuani run on the left. Two nice plays in a row for the D.C. centerback.

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35th Minute – Last-gasp defending by Jakovic prevents Zakuani from getting on the board. Another great combination between Zakuani and Montero almost puts the second-year winger in on goal.

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32nd Minute – Just wide for Najar! Two touches to the right and a rifle of a shot for Najar, who barely missed the post from just inside the area.

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31st Minute – James holds his ground and blocks a Zakuani shot from the right. Nice overlapping run by the Akron product, who received a nice touch pass from Montero.

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29th Minute – Run of play has evened out with both teams sputtering in the final third. Story of the season for both of these seventh-place clubs.

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27th Minute – Namoff wore No. 26, hence the 26th-minute chant. Classy gesture.

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26th Minute – A Bry-an Nam-off chant goes through the crowd. If you haven't heard yet, Namoff has "suspended" his playing career and has taken a front office role with United as he battles back from post-concussion symptoms.

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24th Minute – Parke gets in the way of a couple of through balls as D.C. looks to break down the Sounders defense. When the season started, who thought that Jeff Parke would be a critical member of the Sounders' central defense?

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21st Minute – Seattle slows down the pace. Same thing the Sounders did in Philadelphia working under similar weather conditions. They just can't go at 100 percent for 90 minutes in this humidity.

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19th Minute – SAVE KELLER! He dives to his right to stop a straightaway shot from Stephen King. Two nice saves for the wily vet so far.

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18th Minute – So with all the transfer rumors swirling around, and Freddie Ljungberg "conspicuously" missing from the lineup, the question for you all is:

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15th Minute – Montero is on frame from distance and Perkins yields a rebound, but the keeper pounces on the loose ball before Levesque can. If Montero is given that much space all night, D.C. is in for a rough result.

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13th Minute – Nothing comes off the set piece, and D.C. moves the other way. United really looking to find Najar on the right. Gonzalez has been giving him space off the ball, and that's living dangerously.

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12th Minute – Jakovic sniffs out a cross in the box headed for Levesque, but it's out for a Seattle corner.

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10th Minute – Both teams with good chances early on, though D.C. has been better at working the ball from end to end. 

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8th Minute – SAVE KELLER! Najar and Quaranta turn in a nice 1-2 with Najar getting a shot on frame from inside the area. Great creativity from Quaranta there.

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7th Minute – Zakuani flubs a wide-open effort from 12 yards! Wow. That's a bad miss from that range.

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6th Minute – Can't give Montero that much space, even if he is 35 yards out. He's a proven commodity anywhere on the pitch.

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5th Minute – Montero misses just left! A great strike from distance takes a late turn. 

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3rd Minute – Quaranta with great cross-field pass looking for Najar down the right, but the youngster can't get a good touch to settle.

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2nd Minute – Pontius turns in a great run down the left side and sends a dangerous cross into the area before the attack stalls out. Seattle has seen about enough of Chris Pontius this season.

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1st Minute – D.C. United takes the opening kick wearing the all-black uniforms. Seattle defense in its lime green. Alex Prus is our referee.

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PREGAME – Prediction time: 1-1 draw. Seattle's fielding somewhat of a B team and D.C. has played much better as a unit lately.

Although if recent history has taught us anything we should expect a goalfest. I'll stick with 1-1. What do you all think? What are your predictions?

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PREGAME – It's a humid night in D.C. (surprise, surprise), which could play into United's favor. When Seattle played at Philadelphia in the PPL Park opener, Schmid alluded to the humidity affecting his players in a big way. We'll see if the weather conditions play a role tonight.

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PREGAME – Osvaldo Alonso isn't yet 90-minute fit, which is why he starts on the bench, but his presence is huge for Sigi Schmid's side. According to the Sounders' media relations department, Nate Jaqua is out with a right groin strain, thus explaining his absence.

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PREGAME – All three newcomers are starting on the bench, but all could very easily see action. N'Kufo has only been training with the Sounders for a couple of days, but they're a desperate bunch and could use his services.

Boskovic and Hernandez are ready to roll for Curt Onalfo. Jaime Moreno gets the start, but he's not the 90-minute stalwart he used to be.

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PREGAME – Freddie Ljungberg stayed behind in Seattle with an ankle injury (or "ankle injury" based on if you're a transfer conspiracy theorist) and won't be with the Sounders tonight. For more on the Sounders' issues, check out Jose Romero's post from earlier tonight.

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PREGAME – Here are tonight's lineups:

SEATTLE SOUNDERS

———-Levesque——–Montero——-

–Zakuani–Seamon–Sturgis–Noonan–

–Gonzalez—-Ianni—-Parke—-Riley–

——————–Keller——————

SUBS: N'Kufo, Nyassi, Alonso, Vagenas, Scott, Marshall, Boss

D.C. UNITED

——–Moreno——-Quaranta———

–Pontius—-Simms—-King—-Najar–

–Graye–James–Jakovic–McTavish–

—————–Perkins——————

SUBS: Boskovic, Hernandez, Cristman, Allsopp, Morsink, Talley, Hamid

Comments

  1. He had a _better_ year last season, but still kicked the ball 30 yards down field to no one in particular at every opportunity, regardless of whether he was under pressure. And he’s always been good for one weak/bone-headed clearance per game, not to mention untimely bookings.

    Reply
  2. In only 20 minutes of play I was still unimpressed by Boskovic. I don’t think he ever ran and he stayed inside the center circle practically the whole time. Hopefully for DCU it’s just going to take a few games to adjust.

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  3. Santino Quaranta showed why he’s not a national team player. Able to strike from distance but lacks creativity going forward. He’s like a momentum killer at times. Not sure what it would take to get Najar on the US national team but he’s got loads of class at 17!

    Reply
  4. Marshall has done a workmanlike job for the Sounders since their start in the MLS and has given many comendable performances, but I commend Sigi for sitting Marshall. Now he is just above average in breaking up plays in the back and is sub par, to be kind, when moving the ball forward. What a difference it is when Parke and Ianni are back there moving the ball around quickly and with intent. The minute Marshall came in tonight he reverted to his old ways of looking first to boot the ball forward every possession and he predictably lost much of the possession for us as a result. If was despite, not because of, his presence that we won tonight.

    Reply
  5. Wow, a player goes both studs up on a slide tackle into the keeper and it isn’t even a foul?!?

    This is why I can barely stand to watch MLS. That’s a red card in most leagues.

    Reply
  6. NKufo and Boskovic vetter get in….the only reason im watching

    hopefully all the new Chivas USA players play tonight as well against Puebla

    Reply
  7. Seattle Sounders Sophmore slump in full motion. They have the money to address that in this transfer market if they can free up their dp slots.

    Reply

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