HARRISON, N.J. – Two goals from Mike Grella were the difference as Seattle Sounders FC (5-8-1, 16 points) fell 2-0 on the road to the New York Red Bulls (7-7-1, 22 points) Sunday evening at Red Bull Arena. Playing its first MLS regular season match since June 1, Seattle generated 16 shots but failed to find the back of the net as the club snapped a two-match winning streak across all competitions.
The Red Bulls got on the board first in the 18th minute with the first of two goals from Grella. Sacha Kljestan sent a curling shot from the top corner of the 18-yard-box that struck the far post and fell right to Grella, who buried the rebound attempt for an early lead.
Grella completed his brace in the 59th minute to give New York the two-goal advantage. Capitalizing on a Seattle mis-clearance, the Duke University product got behind the defense and chipped the on-rushing Stefan Frei for his sixth goal of the season.
Tonight marked the 500th career MLS regular season match for Sounders FC Head Coach Sigi Schmid, the first MLS coach to hit the milestone. Schmid has coached over 100 more matches than the next-highest total and is the league’s all-time leader with 227 career wins.
Sounders FC returns home next Saturday, June 25 to face New York City FC as the club celebrates its second annual Pride Day on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m. PT with a nationally-televised broadcast on ESPN and the full stadium open for the first time in 2016.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 0 – New York Red Bulls 2
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Venue: Red Bull Arena
Referee: Chris Penso
Assistants: Brian Dunn, Jeff Muschik
Fourth Official: Jose Carlos Rivero
Attendance: 21,102
Weather: Partly cloudy and 73 degrees
SCORING SUMMARY
NY – Mike Grella 18’
NY – Mike Grella 59’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SEA – Osvaldo Alonso (caution) 4’
NY – Felipe (caution) 4’
NY – Bradley Wright-Phillips (caution) 7’
NY – Connor Lade (caution) 79’
NY – Aurelien Collin (caution) 82’
SEA – Erik Friberg (caution) 86’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Brad Evans – captain, Chad Marshall, Dylan Remick; Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Friberg, Andreas Ivanschitz (Cristian Roldan 81’); Aaron Kovar (Nelson Valdez 68’), Jordan Morris, Joevin Jones (Oalex Anderson 68’)
Substitutes not used: Tyler Miller, Oniel Fisher, Zach Scott, Herculez Gomez
Total shots: 16 (Kovar, 5)
Shots on goal: 3 (3 players tied with 1)
Fouls: 14 (Alonso, 3)
Offside: 1 (Morris, 1)
Corner-kicks: 5 (Ivanschitz, 5)
Saves: 1 (Frei, 1)
New York Red Bulls – Luis Robles; Sal Zizzo, Chris Duvall, Ronald Zubar (Gideon Baah 82’), Connor Lade; Felipe, Dax McCarty, Lloyd Sam (Alex Muyl 75’), Sacha Kljestan (Aurelien Collin 61’), Mike Grella; Bradley Wright-Phillips
Substitutes not used: Kyle Reynish, Justin Bilyeu, Sean Davis, Anatole Abang
Total shots: 11 (Wright-Phillips, 5)
Shots on goal: 3 (Grella, 2)
Fouls: 8 (Duvall/McCarty, 2)
Offside: 2 (Lade/Wright-Phillips, 1)
Corner-kicks: 4 (Kljestan, 3)
Saves: 3 (Robles, 3)
MATCH NOTES
- Sounders FC is now 5-8-1 in the 2016 MLS regular season, including a 1-5-1 mark on the road. With 16 points, the Rave Green are in ninth place in the Western Conference.
- After Sunday’s match, Sounders FC is now 4-4-3 all-time against the New York Red Bulls. At Red Bull Arena, Seattle is 1-3-1. The club is 4-2-0 against Eastern Conference opponents this season.
- On Sunday, Seattle’s Sigi Schmid became the first Head Coach in MLS history to reach 500 games coached.
- Forwards Oalex Anderson and Nelson Valdez entered the match in the 68th minute in reserve roles. It marked Anderson’s first MLS appearance after sustaining a leg injury against Colorado on May 21, while Valdez returned to the pitch for the first time since May 7 against the San Jose Earthquakes.
