SEATTLE - The Seattle Sounders broke out of their funk in a big way in their showdown with FC Dallas at CenturyLink Field on Wednesday evening, riding an explosive offensive effort to a 5-0 blowout over the current Western Conference and Supporters’ Shield leaders.
Clint Dempsey, Andreas Ivanschitz, Jordan Morris, Joevin Jones and Cristian Roldan all scored for the Sounders, who had scored just once in their previous four games combined before Wednesday’s outburst.
Seattle grabbed the lead in just the fourth minute after FCD’s Maynor Figueroa was whistled for a handball in his own penalty box by referee Ricardo Salazar while trying to block a shot from Ivanschitz. Dempsey buried the subsequent penalty kick to give the Sounders the 1-0 advantage, while Figuerora was shown a red card for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
Ivanschitz doubled the lead with his second goal of the season in the 18th minute, chipping a nifty finish over FCD goalkeeper Chris Seitz off a long assist from Osvaldo Alonso. Morris then capped off the early barrage just five minutes later, cashing home a laser finish off a feed from Dempsey to give the Sounders the 3-0 advantage after just 23 minutes.
Seattle would be dealt a blow of its own in the 33rd minute, however, after Dempsey was shown a straight red card by Salazar for making contact with the face of FCD midfielder Juan Esteban Ortiz while going for a ball in the air.
The ejection – Dempsey’s first in 138 career MLS regular season games dating back to 2004 - means that the star forward will be suspended for Seattle’s Cascadia Cup fixture with the Portland Timbers at Providence Park on Sunday.
Jones tacked on another tally in the 61st, after he lined up a shot off a feed from Oniel Fisher that deflected off of FCD defender Atiba Harris and into the net. Roldan then capped off the rout with his first career MLS goal, a header of an Ivanschitz free kick in the 73rd.
Wednesday marked the first time the Sounders scored five goals in a match since Aug. 25, 2012, against the now defunct Chivas USA.
Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei picked up his fifth shutout of the season after Dallas were held to just one shot in the game.
With the victory, the Sounders moved to 6-10-2 on the season ahead of Sunday’s matchup with Portland, which will be the first matchup between the sides of the 2016 season.
