Photo by Jennifer Nicholson/USA Today Sports
By JASON MITCHELL
SEATTLE — Tyrone Mears knows how to make the first one count.
The Seattle Sounders — after leading the Supporters’ Shield race for much of the season — had suddenly lost four of five, melted down in an embarrassing U.S. Open Cup debacle, lost to their archrivals 4-1, and found themselves mere minutes away from a disappointing tie to 10-man D.C. United in front of 44,410 at CenturyLink Field.
But in the 88th minute a deflected cross fell to Mears in the corner of the penalty area, and the right back with the Premier League pedigree unleashed a one-touch rocket past a helpless Andrew Dykstra for the 1-0 win and his first goal with the Sounders.
A Friday night, and perhaps much more, saved.
Midfielder Nick DeLeon did nearly equalize moments later, slapping a close-range shot off the crossbar.
The Sounders (10-7-2, 32 points) are now tied with the Vancouver Whitecaps for the best record in the Western Conference, and trail D.C. United (10-6-5, 35 points) in the Supporters’ Shield race by three points.
For its part, D.C. United ends a four game, 12 day road trip with four points from a 1-2-1 record.
The story of the night was supposed to be absences on the Seattle roster, but D.C. United lost both its starting forwards inside the first half hour, and played the final 60 minutes with just 10 men.
Forward Luis Silva exited in just the fifth minute with what the club called “groin tightness.” Former Derby County product Conor Doyle replaced Silva.
Referee Silviu Petrescu then issued Fabian Espindola a straight red card in the 27th minute for elbowing defender Zach Scott in the neck. It was not the first time the two tussled: Scott picked a yellow card for a 13th-minute aerial collision violent enough to leave Espindola splayed on the ground and Scott with a blood-splattered jersey.
It was the fifth red card of Espindola’s career.
The Sounders were missing Brad Evans, Clint Dempsey, and Marco Pappa to Gold Cup duty, while Obafemi Martins missed the match with a strained thigh. Seattle did, however, see the return of Osvaldo Alonso from a hamstring injury.
Seattle also lost Stefan Frei to a shoulder strain in first-half stoppage time. The goalkeeper collided with an opposing forward near the half-hour mark, needing nearly two minutes on the FieldTurf before returning to action. Troy Perkins closed out the match for Seattle.
D.C. United didn’t exactly land in Seattle at full strength itself, missing key players Bill Hamid, Chris Pontius, Michael Farfan, and Sean Franklin to injury.
The Sounders started the match on the attack. In the fourth minute, Lamar Neagle worked himself past defender Chris Korb, forcing Dykstra into a reaction save at the near post. Minutes later Brazilian midfielder Thomas forced Dykstra into his second save of the night.
The first half fell into something of a lull after the red card, but Seattle started the second half on the front foot. Yet despite creating numerous scoring chances, the Sounders — missing the lethal finishing prowess of Dempsey and Martins — never seriously threatened Dykstra.
In the 47th minute, Thomas scooted a close-range shot inches wide, while in the 54th minute Chad Barrett rifled a header just over the crossbar. Minutes later Neagle sent a free kick from the edge of the area into the side netting. In the 71st minute Barrett found Neagle in a seam between the D.C. center backs, but Neagle gift-wrapped a shot directly to Dykstra. With less than 10 minutes remaining, Alonso took a chance from 20 yards, missing the right post by less than two feet.
D.C. United did manage a few chances in the second half, despite mostly bunkering in. In the 68th minute, Kemp launched a free kick from the corner of the penalty area that skidded off the crossbar. In the 74th minute, late substitute Jairo Arrieta crossed up Scott to create a window for himself, but sailed a 19-yard shot into the stands.
Despite being down a man, D.C. United did look ready to leave Seattle with a point until Mears’ thundering strike, a gift from an Englishman on Fourth of July weekend.
Looking forward, the Sounders visit the Chicago Fire next weekend. D.C. United is off until visiting FC Dallas on July 18.
Sounders win without 4 of their 5 best players, including millions of dollars in attacking talent, against the best the Eastern Conference has to offer. To borrow a phrase from the NBA, the East is weak.
The sounders depth is pretty good, but this is a vast oversimplification of what happened. Consier DC played a man down for 2/3 of the game, and only lost 1-0 away. No real conclusions can be drawn.
Plus, DC is a solid but not great team in front of an imposing keeper – who was out injured. Dykstra isn’t bad, but he’s not Hamid. And that doesn’t get into Pontius, Franklin, etc. We’re hitting the part of the season where no one is at full strength, regardless of who is called up to the national teams.
The DC United players, and Ben Olsen especially, should be furious at Espindola. You fly all the way across the country to take on a really good team that is ripe to be beaten due to absences, and you have to witness Espindola act so foolishly and selfishly by being tossed less than 30 minutes into the match! He essentially put three points out of reach and made his teammates bust their butts for over an hour trying to salvage just one. And they almost do it but then die exhausted at the end, making all that effort literally pointless. Olsen should be furious.
How bad is Frei’s injury? He was finally beginning to play to his potential. He’s always been a bit of a “sick note.”
Dunno yet. Will have a better sense on Monday or Tuesday after rest and tests (team is off today and tomorrow).
Such a blah game….
Even the Sounders fans sounded bored after the hour mark.
Be prepared for lots of “blah” matches with the best players away at the Gold Cup. This will be a test of depth and who’s been damaged the least by National team duties. It even influenced player acquisition. When Bernardez wasn’t selected by the Honduras manager, Harden became surplus, but they needed a forward with Wondo gone, so in came Amerikwa.
Alonso returns, gets a yellow card and Seattle wins at home. Normalcy restored to MLS West.
DC United are a nice team. No stars, but solid all around. Thomas was underwhelming. Perry looks like a stud. When is he going to get more time for the Nats.?
I agree on Kitchens, but watching the Nats yesterday it was pretty clear the Herr Klinsmann will stay with who he knows for now because he wants to win the Gold Cup.
2017 maybe?