San Jose Earthquakes - 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

Game Location

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

Sounders FC 2, San Jose Earthquakes 1

By MATT GASCHK
Sounders FC Insider

Sounders get back on the winning track

The Sounders FC got back on the winning side of the ledger Saturday night, earning a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes in front of a sellout crowd of 28,999 at Qwest Field.

Freddie Ljungberg scored one goal and assisted another from Fredy Montero as the Sounders improved to 5-3-5 (20 points) on the season to leap ahead of the Colorado Rapids for third place in the Western Conference.

“It’s a matter of getting back that confidence, knowing we can win. There’s been games that we’ve played well, like in Chivas when we came away with the loss, and played a better, complete 90 minutes than we played today,” Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid said. “At the end of the day, it’s a good solid win. We want to win when we’re at home and we did that tonight, so I’m very proud of the effort the team put in.”

The Sounders had several chances in the first half, but were turned away by top-class saves by San Jose goalkeeper Joe Cannon, who had three first half saves and several other instances where he came off his line to stop Sounder chances.

“There was one, I don’t know how he kept the ball out,” Ljungberg said. “It was nice when a goal went in because we were wondering what the hell was going on.”

In the 42nd minute, Seattle finally got past Cannon. San Jose defender Jason Hernandez misplayed a ball in the defensive third, leaving it on the feet of Ljungberg for a pass to Montero. Turning back, Montero dropped a pass to Sebastien Le Toux, who slipped the pass through the defense to Ljungberg on the attack. Ljungberg then knocked it past Cannon for his second goal of the season for a 1-0 lead to take into halftime.

“I just tried to dummy the goalie so he goes down a bit, then I tried to shift over … it’s as simple as that,” Ljungberg said with a laugh.

In the 59th minute, Seattle added to their lead on Montero’s fifth goal of the season.

Seattle earned a corner kick on the right side and Ljungberg whipped it in with a right foot, finding Patrick Ianni’s head in the middle of the box. The header fell to Montero, who collected it and touched it past Cannon for a 2-0 lead.

San Jose was able to bounce back to get to 2-1 in the 68th minute as the Sounders turned the ball over in their own box and Darren Huckerby capitalized for his first goal of the season. Shea Salinas got possession of the loose ball and knocked it down to Ryan Johnson, who centered it through three Sounders to Huckerby for a one-touch goal past Kasey Keller.

“We just got complacent and didn’t clear the ball,” Keller said. “I don’t know why and I guarantee you it won’t happen again. There is a time and place to play and that wasn’t one of them. For now it means nothing and you learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The misplay came after Seattle had continued a strong run of play through the first 60 minutes.

“We sort of lost the plot a little bit,” Schmid said of the late lapse. “They became more aggressive and a bad play in the back results in their goal. We need to do a better job of managing it, but when you’re in a streak where you’re not getting wins, right now you’ll take the win.”

The win ends a six-game drought for the Sounders, who were 0-1-5 in that stretch. It also starts a stretch that will see them play three games in eight days, with five out of six games on home turf at Qwest Field.

“(The win was) very important. We had a great run at the start of the year, then a bad run, so today starts a new run for us,” Steve Zakuani said. “We’re very, very excited right now - the morale is high. If we can keep getting wins on the bounce, then everyone forgets the stretch of draws and we’re back where we want to be.”

Added Stephen King, “Overall it was a good team performance. We knew we had to come out and get three points tonight. We haven’t won in a while and especially being at home at Qwest with the fans, we had to use that to our advantage and do what we needed to do to get the three points, whatever that was.”

The Sounders play a Wednesday night game against DC United at Qwest before traveling to New York to face the Red Bulls. Kickoff Wednesday night is 7:30 and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN2.

Play by Play

Time	Event	Description
93+		Freddie Ljungberg is given a yellow card for a dangerous play and just after San Jose puts the ball back into the play the ref blows the final whistle. Final score Sounders FC 2, San Jose 1.
91+		Chris Wondolowski is issued a yellow card for a forearm shot to Brad Evans after Evans heads a ball clear.
89		Jason Hernandez goes through Freddie Ljungberg to knock a ball clear with no call, but a moment later Stephen King is brought to the ground, drawing a fould and a Seattle free kick.
87		Tyrone Marshall was taken off the field on a stretcher, but returned to the field when the ball was put back into play.
86		Tyrone Marshall goes down with an apparent knee injury, catching the cleat of Quincy Amarikwa as he juked past Marshall.
85		Pablo Campos subs on for Ryan Johnson.
84		Patrick Ianni knocks a ball clear for a San Jose corner ... on the ensuing play, Ryan Johnson gets a great look inside the box, but misses wide left.
82		Seattle earns a corner kick and on the play the ball is played back to Brad Evans, but his cross misses wide for a goal kick.
81		Quincy Amarikwa subs on for Michael Zaher.
77		Roger Levesque subs on fro Steve Zakuani, drawing a great reaction from the crowd.
75		Osvaldo Alonso subs on for Fredy Montero.
74		Fredy Montero is given a yellow card for some post-whistle antics.
73		Fredy Montero crosses for Sebastien Le Toux and it goes through to Steve Zakuani, but San Jose knocks it free.
71		Freddie Ljungberg does well to hold off a San Jose defender and get a ball through for Sebastien Le Toux, but Joe Cannon makes a diving grab of the ball to keep it off the foot of Le Toux.
68		Darren Huckerby scores with an assist from Ryan Johnson. Sounders FC 2, San Jose 1.
65		Attendance is announced at 28,999.
64		Hard foul by Chris Leitch on Sebastien Le Toux in the midfield earns Seattle a free kick from 40 yards out.
61		Sebastien Le Toux takes off a hair too early an is whistled offside for a pass up the left side.
59		Freddie Ljungberg takes a corner kick from the right side. Patrick Ianni gets his head on it coming down the middle of the box through traffic and it lands at the feet of Fredy Montero, who collects it and knocks it in for a goal. Sounders FC 2, San Jose 0.
58		Shea Salinas subs on for Antonio Ribeiro.
57		Ryan Johnson and Kasey Keller sky for a ball in the box. Keller punches it clear, but takes the worst of it as Johnson flies into him for the foul.
54		Kasey Keller waves his arms in frustration as Brad Evans holds of Chris Wondolowski for a ball in the midfield, but is still called for a foul when Wondolowski misses on a sliding effort at teh ball.
52		Chris Wondolowski shoulder-checks James Riley to the ground but there is no call on the play and Riley is taken off the field. Once the ball is put back into play, Riley returns to the field.
52		Steve Zakuani sneaks a shot around a San Jose defender, but Joe Cannon makes the save.
50		Antonio Ribeiro takes out Freddie Ljungberg in the midfield for a yellow card.
49		Chris Leitch pulls Steve Zakuani down with both hands, but there is no call and the ball goes clear for a throw in.
47		Fredy Montero gets into the right corner and sends a cross thats knocked away for a corner kick. On the corner, Tyrone Marshall gets his head on it, but misses high.
46		San Jose kicks off to start the second half, attacking the north goal.
45		After 2 minutes of stoppage time the first half comes to a conclusion. Sounders FC 1, San Jose Earthquakes 0.
43		Brad Evans is whistled for a yellow card for a sliding tackle in the midfield.
42		Jason Hernandez misplays a ball and Seattle takes advantage. Sebastien Le toux one-touches to Freddie Ljungberg for a shot past Joe Cannon for a one-nil lead. Sounders FC 1, San Jose 0.
40		Things are getting chippy as Ryan Johnson takes down Freddie Ljungberg in the midfield.
38		Freddie Ljungberg plays a great ball to Steve Zakuani for a fantastic setup to Fredy Montero, but his shot is parried out for a corner kick by Joe Cannon. He's really earning his money tonight.
34		Ramiro Corrales is issued a red card for a tackle on James Riley running up the right sideline. On the ensuing free kick, Freddie Ljungberg makes a run up the right side, but his cross is corralled by Joe Cannon.
32		Seattle gets out on a break and Freddie Ljungberg gets a shot off from 20 yards off, but it is deflected and skips into the arms of Joe Cannon for the stop.
29		Steve Zakuani is pulled down by Chris Leitch for a foul from 30 yards out. On the free kick, Freddie Ljungberg gets it onto the foot of Brad Evans but Joe Cannon makes a diving stop on the line.
24		Well done by Kasey Keller to come off his line and knock a ball clear from Darren Huckerby preventing what would have been a dangerous opportunity.
23		Another great ball forward to Sebastien Le Toux into the box, but Joe Cannon comes off his line to knock the ball loose and eventually it is cleared for a corner.
21		Great ball by Patrick Ianni to Steve Zakuani up the left side. He sends a cross through to Montero at the far post and the ball is poked away for a corner kick. On the corner, the ball comes through to Ianni for a volley, but it goes just over the bar for a goal kick.
19		A hard foul by Jason Hernandez on Steve Zakuani in the open field earns Seattle a free kick.
16		A hard foul in the midfield by Aaron Pitchkolan on Sebastien Le Toux earns Pitchkolan a yellow card ... on the play, Seattle earned a corner kick.
15		Tyson Wahl sends a ball forward for Steve Zakuani, who is whistled offside.
14		Darren Huckerby sends a dangerous ball through to Ryan Johnson, but he can't get a good foot on it and it goes free for a goal kick.
11		James Riley is whistled for a foul near the sideline for a tackle, though the call looked to come from the assistant referee on the sideline.
07		Fredy Montero swings a ball to the left side for Steve Zakuani, who sends it back across to Freddie Ljungberg at the far post, but it's knocked clear for a corner kick. Ljungberg takes the corner but it's poked away for a throw on the far side.
06		Good pick by Brad Evans in the midfield. Stephen King plays a ball forward to Sebastien Le Toux, but his attempt to move forward is thwarted by Joe Cannon.
05		A body check sends Freddie Ljungberg to the ground, giving Seattle a free kick from 45 yards out.
03		A one-two between Sebastien Le Toux and Freddie Ljungberg is headed back to Joe Cannon by Chris Leitch to stop the Seattle threat.
Prematch		Sebastien Le Toux has gone away from his trademark red boots, in favor of black boots.
Prematch		Sounders FC are wearing green tops with blue shorts. Keller has chosen to wear his orange keeper top for the match, a departure for his normal grey top.
Prematch		Weather at kickoff - 73°F, Clear, Wind: NE at 7 mph, Humidity: 51%
Prematch		Fred Mendoza, a volunteer leader in the Seattle area soccer community and vice chairman of the Washington State Public Stadium Authority, was the receipient of the Golden Scarf before today's match.
Prematch		Couple of changes to the San Jose starting lineups from those posted earlier in the week. Goalkeeper: Cannon; Defenders: Zaher, Pitchkolan, Hernandez, Leitch; Midfielders: Alvarez, Corrales, Ribiero, Huckerby; Forwards: Johnson, Wondolowski*
Prematch		No changes to the Sounders FC starting lineup: Goalkeeper: Keller; Defenders: Riley, Marshall, Ianni, Wahl; Midfielders: Ljungberg, King, Zakuani, Evans; Forwards: Le Toux, Montero

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