D.C. United - Seattle Sounders Football Club

Winner	Score	Game Coverage
FC Dallas	W, 4-2	Game Coverage
Earthquakes	W, 4-0	Game Coverage
Sporting KC	W, 1-0	Game Coverage
Union	D, 2-2	Game Coverage
Rapids	W, 1-0	Game Coverage

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Winner

Score

Game Coverage

FC Dallas

W, 4-2

Game Coverage

Earthquakes

W, 4-0

Game Coverage

Sporting KC

W, 1-0

Game Coverage

Union

D, 2-2

Game Coverage

Rapids

W, 1-0

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MEN OF THE MATCH

Alonso and Montero score, but Sounders settle for 3-3 draw

By MATT GASCHK
Sounders FC Insider

Sounders FC fans may not see goals like the two Seattle scored in the first half again this season.

If they have their way, they’ll never see one like the one that equalized for DC United in the 87th minute again, but an own goal evened the score and it ended in a 3-3 draw in front of 29,104 at Qwest Field Wednesday night.

“It doesn’t feel good. This is a game that we should have won tonight and we should have won it going away,” Sounders FC head coach Sigi Schmid said. “It’s very deflating when a team comes back and ties you like that, but on the positive side of the equation, we’re creating opportunities.”

Osvaldo Alonso scored a cracker of a goal in the first half and Nate Jaqua knocked an obscure, twisting shot that DC United defender Marc Burch chipped in for an own goal to give Seattle a 2-1 lead before the halftime whistle. But Tyrone Marshall’s own goal in the 87th minute evened the tally at 3-3 and Seattle had to settle for a draw after holding a 3-1 lead into the final half-hour.

“It came so fast that there was no reaction to get out of the way. It just hit and went in,” Marshall said. “It’s one of those plays that you wish you could have back, but it happened so we have to move on.”

Although DC took the 1-0 lead in the 34th minute when rookie midfielder Chris Pontius scored his fourth goal of the season, getting his foot on a cross from Santino Quaranta.

Alonso then evened the score with his first goal of the season on a blistering shot from 30 yards out that bent it’s way into the right corner of the net over the outstretched hand of United goalkeeper Josh Wicks who faced nine shots in the first half and 17 in the game, making seven saves.

Then Jaqua spun the Sounders into the lead, taking a ball from Fredy Montero and twisting to fend off a defender before sending in a left-footed effort that bounced down off of Burch and spilled into the net for a 2-1 Seattle lead.

They carried that momentum into the second half and Montero notched his team-leading sixth goal of the season. Montero got some open space at the top of the DC box, juked Burch to one side, then flinged a left-footed shot inside the far post for a 3-1 lead.

Seattle continued to hold possession and create chances, even after Christian Gomez scored his third goal of the year to narrow the lead to 3-2. But then Pontius got free up the left side in the 87th minute, sent in a cross and sealed the draw with Marshall’s own goal.

“Pontius hit a good cross, but at that particular time we need to be as close as we can and we can probably do a better job with the runners,” Marshall said. “But in the run of play, things happen. It missed him and hit my head and went in.”

A heated Kasey Keller blamed a lack of discipline down the stretch for the unsightly result.

“The game’s pretty simple, but unfortunately we want to make it extremely complicated,” Keller said. “Mistakes are going to happen and that’s all part of the game, but it’s the little things that you have to keep doing every time. Unfortunately we’re switching off at times and it’s killing us right now.”

Added Schmid, “The problem with the two of the three goals is that we’re too far off guys as they’re sending in crosses. If guys have ten yards of room and can hit naked crosses with us not impacting the cross, if they’re a good player they are going to be able to pick out targets.”

The draw moved the Sounders to 5-3-6 (21 points) on the season for third in the Western Conference. DC United is now 5-2-8 (23 points) and sit atop the East.

“It’s annoying and you get a bit angry about it,” Ljungberg said. “Three-one, the game should be over and we controlled it quite well, but the goals we concede are mistakes and it’s icing on the cake that it’s an own goal in the 87th minute. It’s hard, but that’s soccer. It’s not always fair.”

“We scored three goals at home – we could’ve scored ten – and we throw a game away in the 87th minute when we should have, quite comfortably, won this 4-1,” Keller said. “We should have been disciplined enough to hit them on a counter and get the fourth one instead of throwing two goals away. Simple as that.”

Seattle flies out early Thursday morning to face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday. The game is scheduled for a 4:30 kickoff on KONG television.

Play by Play

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Time	Event	Description
71		Sebastien Le Toux splits a ball to Steve Zakuani up the right side. Zakuani collects the pass and shoots, but Josh Wicks knocks it to the ground and DC gets the clearance.
68		Sebastien Le Toux works a beautiful give-and-go with Freddie Ljungberg, as Ljungberg chips the ball over the defense to Le Toux 22 yards out, where Le Toux is knocked to the ground from behind by Marc Burch, but there is no call on the play and DC United clears the immediate danger.
67		Steve Zakuani subs on for Fredy Montero.
65		Sebastien Le Toux picked off an errant pass in the midfield, races up the field and swings a pass to Fredy Montero on the right side. Montero gives the ball back ot Le Toux at the top of the box and follows his pass as Le Toux touched the ball to him and Montero hammered a shot, but it flew high for a goal kick.
63		Christian Gomez knifed through the Sounders defense and ripped a shot from the 18 to beat Keller for a goal. Sounders FC 3, DC United 2.
61		Marc Burch is not having a good night ... Fredy Montero just got around him again at the 18, but Dejan Jakovic recovered in time to help his teammate and got the ball cleared.
60		ESPN2 will be showing tonight's game in it's entirety at 10 pm Pacific.
57		Fredy Montero got into open space in the box, jukes Marc Burch, then twists a left-footed shot inside the far post to beat a diving Josh Wicks. Sounders FC 3, DC United 1.
51		Freddie Ljungerg gets trhough and blasts a shot from the right side, but Josh Wicks knocked it clear for a corner kick.
50		Chris Pontius gets to a ball at the edge of the box, but Jhon Kennedy Hurtado puts the clamps down and earns a goal kick.
46		Fredy Montero sneaks past teh DC defense and takes a hard strike into the chest of Josh Wicks, but Wicks corrals the rebound before Montero can get to the rebound.
46		Seattle kicks off, attacking the south goal.
46		Christian Gomez subs on for Andrew Jacobsen at halftime.
Halftime		I'm not following the Virginia-Arkansas game, but if it's still going on, try ESPN Deportes.
Halftime		Officially, the Sounders second goal was an own-goal off of Marc Burch.
46+		After the restart the ref blows the halftime whistle. Nate Jaqua's goal may have been the ugliest we'll see, but it sure whipped the crowd into a frenzy and the Sounders go into the break with a 2-1 lead.
45		Fredy Montero touched the ball to Nate Jaqua, who twists around the ball and gets a left-foot on it and gets just enough on it to knock it off the leg of Marc Burch and into the net for a Sounders FC goal. Seattle 2, DC United 1.
43		Brad Evans leads Sebastien Le Toux into the box and he knocks it off a DC defender for a corner kick. Freddie Ljungberg takes the corner, but it twists over the bar for a goal kick.
41		Freddie Ljungberg leads Sebastien Le Toux into the box with a pinpoint pass, but Josh Wicks sprawls out to make the stop as Le Toux gets to the ball.
38		Osvaldo Alonso blisters a shot from 28 yards out and bends it into the upper-V to tie the score at 1-1. WOW ... What a goal by Alonso in his return to the starting lineup. James Riley and Brad Evans are credited with the assists.
35		Seattle earns a corner kick and Freddie Ljungberg plays a ball through to Sebastien Le Toux, who left-foots a cross to Fredy Montero for a header, but it misses high.
34		Chris Pontius lunges his foot out to a long cross from Santino Quaranta and knocks it past Kasey Keller for a goal. DC United 1, Sounders FC 0.
32		Marc Burch fouled Osvaldo Alonso against the right sideline, but only after already knocking Freddie Ljungberg to the turf in the midfield with no call.
31		Tyrone Marshall is making life difficult for Luciano Emilio. He hasn't been able to get to a ball withouth Marshall making his presence known.
29		Tyson Wahl crosses to Fredy Montero from the left side, but Montero's header - that's right, header - goes wide for a goal kick.
26		Freddie Ljungberg is called for a foul when he and Clyde Simms leap for a 50/50 ball in the midfield.
25		Osvaldo Alonso played a ball to Sebastien Le Toux up teh right sideline, but Bryan Namoff is able to force a turnover and a DC United throw in.
22		Chris Pontsus drags down Brad Evans near the endline on the left side of the box earning a free kick. The ref reached for his pocket, but thought better of it and did not issue a card. Freddie Ljungberg took the free kick, but it skipped over the heads of the approaching Sounders and went for a Seattle throw on the far side. They got a shot off from the throw, but it missed wide for a goal kick.
21		Ange N'Silu subs on for the injured Fred.
20		Fredy Montero, Freddie Ljungberg and James Riley work the ball against the right sideline until Ljungberg draws a foul from 18 yards out on the sideline.
18		Fredy Montero is shoved along the sideline, but the whistle indicates a DC United throw-in. On the play, Fred hits the ground and is taken off the field.
16		Santino Quaranta takes the corner and it's knocked clear by Seattle, only to have Osvaldo Alonso pick up a foul from 25 yards out. Seattle knocks the free kick clear.
15		Sebastien Le Toux picks off Chris Pontius in the midfield, then is fouled from behind. DC gets the ball back though and Pontius snakes in to get a shot from 10 yards out that Kasey Keller parries over the bar for a goal kick.
13		A hard foul knocks Osvaldo Alonso to the turf in the midfield. Seattle got another quick restart, but couldn't garner any pressure out of it and the play ended with DC United earning a goal kick.
11		DC United earns a corner kick on a well-contested ball in teh box. Santino Quaranta bent in an initial corner that Kasey Keller punched away, and eventually Tyson Wahl headed it clear for another corner. On the second corner, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado fought for the clearance.
08		Freddie Ljungberg took a hard foul in the midfield and on a quick restart Sebastien Le Toux got a shot from inside the box. Seattle is using their quickness and an unrelenting approach to put pressure on the defense.
06		Sebastien Le Toux got another shot that Josh Wicks got a hand on. Nate Jaqua crashed the rebound but fouled Marc Burch in the process.
05		Tyson Wahl crossed a good ball in from 45 yards out, but Josh Wicks beat Nate Jaqua to the ball to knock it clear.
04		Fredy Montero just took advantage of DC's three defender formation, working deep into the box before chipping a cross to Sebastien Le Toux and Nate Jaqua coming up the middle, but Josh Wicks sprung off his line to knock the ball clear.
02		Luciano Emilio just blasted a shot from the middle of the field 30 yards out, but missed wide right.
01		DC United is kicking off attacking the south goal at 7:39. Seattle quickly takes possession in the center cirle and draws the first foul.
Pregame		MLS fans around the country just became huge supporters of the University of Virginia baseball team. They are currently tied 3-3 with the Univeristy of Arkansas in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Cavaliers rallying with no outs. The Sounders-DC United game will take to the air on ESPN2 as soon as the College World Series game concludes.
Prematch		Seattle's WNBA team, the Storm, is honored with the match's Golden Scarf.
Prematch		Mike and Cathy Holmgren recognized in attendance at today's game.
Prematch		DC United Starting Lineup: GK Josh Wicks, D Bryan Namoff (Captain), D Dejan Jakovic, D Marc Burch, M Andrew Jacobson, M Clyde Simms, M Rodney Wallace, M Fred, F Chris Pontius, F Santino Quaranta, F Luciano Emilio. Reserves: Milos Kocic, Christian Gomez, Greg Janicki, Avery John, Thabiso Khumalo, Ange N'Silu, Ben Olsen.
Prematch		Sounders FC Starting Lineups: GK Kasey Keller (Captain), D James Riley, D Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, D Tyrone Marshall, D Tyson Wahl, M Freddie Ljungberg, M Osvaldo Alonso, M Brad Evans, M Sebastien Le Toux, F Nate Jaqua, F Fredy Montero. Reserves: Ben Dragavon, Patrick Ianni, Stephen King, Sanna Nyassi, Nathan Sturgis, Peter Vegenas, Steve Zakuani.
Prematch		Referee: Ricardo Salazar Referee's Assistant: Fabio Tovar Referee's Assistant: Darren Clark 4th Official: Jasen Anno
Prematch		Weather: Partly cloudy with chance of rain. 69 degrees Fahrenheit.
93+		After three minutes of stoppage time, the referee blows the final whistle. Final score: Sounders FC 3, DC United 3.
92+		Bryan Namoff is cautioned for delay.
90		Sebastien Le Toux swings in a corner kick from the right side, but it's headed away to Brad Evans for another cross to Steve Zakuani in the middle of the box, but his header goes wide.
88		Chris Pontius crosses a ball in from the left side and Tyrone Marshall attempts to head it clear, but knocks it into the net for an own goal. sounders FC 3, DC United 3.
85		Patrick Ianni subs on for Nate Jaqua.
84		Sebastien Le Toux takes the corner kick, finding Tyrone Marshall at the far post for a header, but Josh Wicks beats it to the post to knock it away.
84		Seattle earns a corner kick and Dejan Jakovic gets a yellow card on the play for grabbing Sebastien Le Toux as he ran by.
82		Attendance is announced at 29,104.
79		Nate Jaqua heads a ball to Stephen King at the top of the box, he volleys to himself, does a spin and shoots off the volley, but misses high.
77		Stephen King subs on for Freddie Ljungberg.
77		Sebastien Le Toux gets the ball into the box, but sends a ball toward Freddie Ljungberg that clears his head for a goal kick.
73		Thabiso Khumalo subs on for Luciano Emilio

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