Jorge Rivera

Without a single shot on goal over 90minutes of play, Sounders FC suffered its second defeat at home, falling 1-0 against a rival that only needed one good play, to leave Qwest field with three points

“This was obviously a disappointing game”, said Coach Sigi Schmid after the game; “When you play at home you want to win. I thought we carried the game, but at the end of the day you have to score goals. If you don’t score you don’t win”, he added

Our local team played again without star Swede midfielder Freddie Ljungberg, who reported feeling disoriented on Saturday, before the game Sounders won over LA Galaxy 2-0, and is under medical evaluation

“It is not a migraine, we are sure of that; we are following a precautious procedure, so that thought that the 7 to 10 days protocol was the right thing to do”, Schmid had said before the game, about Ljungberg’s situation

Seattle faced the New England Revolution for the first time in history, a team that been vice champion four times, but has not won the Cup ever

The Game

In front of the usual crowd over 32,000, Sounders went on the pitch with the regulars, excepting Pete Vagenas, in for Ljungberg, and Patrick Ianni replacing Marshall, ejected last Saturday

Sounders seemed to have the midfield from the beginning, supported by the ball recovering of Osvaldo Alonso, and seeking understanding between Nate Jaqua and Montero, who created danger together at 16’, in a give and go over the center of the pitch, but Montero fell when a defender closed in, not foul was called

Revolution, whose name does not seem to come from their style of play, stand in the back on a conservative way, and based the game on the recovery of Caribbean star midfielder Shalrie Joseph, the ball control of veteran Steve Ralston, and the size of Lithuanian forward Edgaras Jankauskas

Joseph was precisely who started the play of the only goal of the match, at 21’. When he touched back to Californian Jeff Larentowics, he passed 10 yards forward to team’s captain Ralston, who built a give and go with Jankauskas, resulting in a last touch to Joseph himself; after brief struggle, he pushed it in, between Keller and Peter Vagenas

“Our guys got caught up, it looked like Kasey (Keller) had it, but is one of those things when the ball just rolls in”, said coach Schmid about the play

Sounders reacted with energy, and many balls came from midfield to the strikers, coming from Alonso, Evans and sometimes Riley; at 37’ a point black shot from Zakuani hit Montero in the face, while he was coming back from an offside position

Four minutes later, a triangle passing with Montero, Evans and Vagenas, left the Colombian in position to dribble towards the box, but he was taken down; a rebound after the free kick was recovered by Alonso on a slide, he passed to Montero who this time dribbled in, but a Rebel put his leg up, and referee called for the penalty kick

Sadly, Montero, who was given the chance to tie for the league’s top scorer, blasted the ball against the horizontal post, loosing for Sounders the chance to tie the game

“I am the team’s top scorer, and my colleagues offered me the chance to kick; of course I wanted to do it, I was confident it would go in, unfortunately it his the post”, Montero said after the game

The second half was mostly a monologue of Sounders looking for the tie, getting to the other end all the time, but with no clarity, and no shots on goal; no team recorded a shot on goal in the second half

“You win games sometimes by somebody just doing a little piece of magic” said goalkeeper Kasey Keller, trying to explain what happened to Sounders offense, “We haven’t had that either. It’s time to truly see if we are a playoff and a contender for this league.” He concluded

Latino track

Osvaldo Alonso: It is hard to find, at Sounders games, moments when Alonso looses the ball, he seems to win them all, but he also recovers puts his head up, and passes well; another great showing; but the Cuban can’t play ‘6’ and ‘10’ at the same time

Leo Gonzales: Keeps exciting the fans with his talent to support the attackers, and his fine style of play; he is not just a “runner”, at the flank he measures, touches clean, chest stops, passes short, he is classy; many of the good Sounders plays started at his side

Jhon K Hurtado: He was left behind on New England’s give and go for the goal, but he controlled the strong forwards in white kits, the rest of the game; keeps being the top defender for the rave green

Fredy Montero: Did not have a good night; no shots on goal, missed a penalty, and took a yellow card in an innocent play, trying to steal the ball away from the goalie; now, he will not be able to play a key game against Dynamo at Houston

New England Revolution is not a team who uses much of Latino talent; but with 10 minutes left in the game they pulled in Honduran midfielder Mauricio Castro, who came in 2007 from Tegucigalpa’s Olimpia; he brought excitement in a couple of plays

Two notes on MLS

1 – Houston Dynamo announced this week the hiring of Mexican striker Luis Angel Landin, 24, who has played for the national team and was with Mexico City’s Cruz Azul; Landin will join the first squad as soon as his visa is approved

2 – Red Bull’s Head Coach, Colombian Juan Carlos Osorio, resigned Friday, after earning only 10 points in the season; this leaves the league with just one Latino coach; Chicago Fire’s Costa Rican Denis Hamlett

Sounders travel Saturday to Houston, where they face a difficult game on Sunday, against league leader Dynamo