The Endline

When I saw the starting lineups for Sunday night’s match between the Sounders and the Rapids I was excited to see both Zakuani and Nyassi on the wings. I have been waiting to see what the Sounders offense would look like with the two of them running at a defense. Without doing the research, it feels like it’s the first time I’ve seen the two of them start on the wings since the season opener last year. But most people felt that the real story of the day was the MLS debut of Blaise Nkufo. Nkufo saw his first action with the Sounders against Celtic last week, but this would be his Major League Soccer debut. With Nkufo on the plastic pitch, Fredy Montero seemed to find and play in the space behind his new teammate. It didn’t take long for this new Seattle attack to score as the Rapids gave up their first goal within the first 15 minutes of play all season. Zakuani picked up a loose ball in the box and shot it to the near post with the ball bouncing off the post and then off a diving Matt Pickens’ backside as the ball found it’s way into the net. Before the confetti could fall after Zakuani’s goal, the Rapids struck back with an Omar Cummings left footed bomb. The Jamaican winger found space down the right side and cut in on Zach “He’s a good player” Scott to level things at 1-1. Sounders fans were still cheering as the Rave green gave up the equalizer. The time between goals has to be some sort of record. Still inside the first 17 minutes of the game, Montero played a great chip to a streaking Nyassi to set up Steve Zakuani’s  second goal of the game. Although Zakuani was there for the tap in,  it was good to see two Sounders players in the box for Nyassi. If Steve would have missed, Nkufo made the run behind him. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the Sounders crashing the box with numbers.

The second half was filled with close chances but neither of the goal scorers were able to put another bulge in the auld onion bag. Zakuani was very close on his run in the 86th minute when he was called offside.  What looked like an obvious offside call was much closer than people realized. I went through that play frame by frame and it was so close that Marvell Wynne’s step looked like purely timed brilliance. Omar Cummings should have equalized for the Rapids when he had Kasey Keller one on one but Cummings volleyed his dipping shot too high.

In extra time Conor Casey and Patrick Ianni collided heads in the air leaving Casey lying in his own blood from a gash on his bald head. Having exhausted all of their substitutions, Casey walked directly to the locker room as play resumed. Fredy Montero played a clever back heel to Steve Zakuani and the Sounders looked like the counter attack would net them their 3rd goal of the evening and free haircuts for the fans. Instead, referee Yader Reyes, blew the final whistle. I honestly don’t think that the ref would have blown the whistle if Colorado had been storming down the field to equalize, the ref would have allowed the play to proceed. So I’m sending my next haircut bill to you Mr. Reyes.

Once again the Sounders played without their Designated Player, Freddie Ljungberg. My biggest question is, “Did anyone miss him?” I know that the Seattle faithful are feeling like Ljungberg has both feet out the door, but I would like the chance to see him play with Nkufo. I have a feeling I won’t see that in my lifetime.

Scoring Summary:

SEA — Steve Zakuani 6 (unassisted) 8

COL — Omar Cummings 5 (Pablo Mastroeni 1) 9

SEA — Steve Zakuani 7 (Sanna Nyassi 2, Fredy Montero 8 ) 17

Misconduct Summary:

SEA — Zach Scott (caution; Tactical Foul) 28

COL — Jamie Smith (caution; Reckless Tackle) 58

SEA — Osvaldo Alonso (caution; Reckless Tackle) 90

Lineups:

Colorado Rapids — Matt Pickens, Julien Baudet, Marvell Wynne, Drew Moor, Danny Earls (Kosuke Kimura 65), Omar Cummings, Pablo Mastroeni, Mehdi Ballouchy (Quincy Amarikwa 77), Jeff Larentowicz, Jamie Smith (Claudio Lopez 65), Conor Casey.

Substitutes Not Used: Colin Clark, Wells Thompson, Scott Palguta, Ian Joyce.

Seattle Sounders – Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jeff Parke, Patrick Ianni, Zach Scott, Sanna Nyassi (Roger Levesque 81), Nathan Sturgis (Mike Seamon 74), Osvaldo Alonso, Steve Zakuani, Fredy Montero, Blaise Nkufo (Nate Jaqua 70).

Substitutes Not Used: Tyrone Marshall, Tyson Wahl, Miguel Montano, Terry Boss.

Referee: Yader Reyes
Referee’s Assistants: Kermit Quisenberry; Chris Strickland
4th Official: Landis Wiley
Weather: Clear and 75 degrees
Attendance: 36,333

Sigi Schmid – Sounders FC Head Coach

(Opening Statement…) “Obviously we’re pleased with the three points. I think the team showed a lot of grit and determination. In the beginning of the year we had some games when we played some good soccer and didn’t come out with anything but now we get points and sometimes it means rolling up your sleeves and the team certainly did that. We scored two good goals. Obviously they came right back in it after we scored our first one but we came back and got the second one. In the second half we had to dig in a little bit but that’s something this year we haven’t been as successful at doing and it was good to see the team show that capability. I’m very proud of their determination to win the game.”

(On Blaise Nkufo’s performance…) “I thought it was good. We need to get used to him a little more, we need to find him. Sometimes early crosses can be a little more effective with him because he finds those spaces, those seams in between the central defenders so that’s something we’ve got to look for. He did everything I needed from him or wanted from him and gave everything he had. I think we subbed him at the right time. He’s just going to get better as he gets fitter, as he gets stronger. In terms of his fitness, as the understanding of the teams grows it will get better. He was right behind [Steve] Zakuani on the second goal, so if Zakuani doesn’t get it, Blaise has it.”

(On tightening up the defense…) “In order to play offense you’ve got to get the ball and in order to get the ball you have to play good defense. We’ve given up way too many goals this year, that’s one of the big differences between our team this year and last year, and we needed to tighten that up. I think we’ve tightened that up. We continue to work on it. There’s times where it still needs to be better, but obviously today was [Osvaldo] Alonso’s first game back. He played very well, but himself, [Nathan] Sturgis, [Michael] Seamon haven’t had a ton of games in that position. We haven’t been able to keep the same unit together. Sanna Nyassi came in today and started, played very well for us on the right hand side. It’s a matter of tightening up that middle and as the guys get used to each other, get more games with each other as a unit, they’ll become even better.”

(On Steve Zakuani and  Fredy Montero leading on offense…) “It was good. I think it’s Zakuani’s first multiple goal game in the league, so that was good. The second goal in particular was a great ball by Montero to play Sanna in. Sanna made a great run and deserved the assist there as well. Fredy kept the ball alive on the first goal, kept digging in, digging in, kept it alive and eventually it was Zakuani and he finished it. That’s what you need. We need to score goals that are nice pieces of work, but we also need to score goals where we just scrap for ‘em and that’s something we haven’t always been getting either.”

(On Jeff Parke helping keep Kasey Keller at bay…) “I think we did a good job with Kasey. I think we kept him at bay pretty much. I thought Omar Cummings got around us especially early in the game. We were a little concerned because Zach [Scott] ended up taking a yellow fairly early. We were actually toying with, do we need to make a change there – so we really talked about our team getting over, making sure they helped on that side of the field, that we doubled. I thought Ozzie [Alonso] did a good job of getting over there to help Zach a little bit and doubling up on Omar. Certainly, they’re a dangerous team because those guys are dangerous players. It was a good win for us.”

(On Pat Noonan…) “At the end of practice yesterday felt something a little bit, so then we tried this morning to see if he could go. He felt he could maybe push through it, but he didn’t want to put the team in jeopardy, so that’s the reason we made the change.

(On saves by Keller…) “I thought he had a couple of good saves. He saved the one header that he tipped over the bar in the first half and the reaction save coming back his left. That’s just a great save. I guess you don’t want to become used to it but sometimes Kasey is such a fundamentally sound goalkeeper that you’re almost surprised if he doesn’t make the save. He definitely came up with some big saves that kept us in the game, at a big part of the game and that’s what you need your goalkeeper to do.”

(On difference between first matchup with Colorado…) “The first matchup was Jeff Parke, I think his first game, first or second game for our team. His legs weren’t under him at that point. So that was something we felt much better about. We really tried to do a better job of forcing their center backs to make the game for them. Early on I think that worked well for us. I think they adjusted a little bit to it. But for us it’s really not so much about the tactical changes, just the grit and determination that we showed. And that we played with. When we come out and do that, then our crowd gets behind us and our crowd was fantastic tonight. When we’re working hard and we’re giving them what they want, which is hard work on the field and then they respond to that by cheering like they do it becomes a catharsis that makes us a dangerous team at home. And that’s what we want to get back to as well, becoming that home team. It’s not so much tactical changes, it’s creating that catharsis with our crowd, it was fantastic tonight, and making our home field a place where people don’t want to play.”

Steve Zakuani – Sounders FC Midfielder

(On the win . . .) “It’s just good to get a win. To be honest, I think Colorado controlled the game. We did a lot of running out there but I think we fought well as a team and, in the end, it was disappointing when we scored the first one and they came straight back. But, we made the second goal and didn’t make the same mistake twice. It was a very good team that we played tonight.”

(On his two goals . . .) “On the first one, I think I initially took a back touch. I think it was [Nathan] Sturgis or [Osvaldo] Alonso who played it to me but Fredy [Montero] was coming up. There was a bit of ping-pong in the box and the ball fell to me and it was just about getting a quick release and I did. Maybe I got a bit lucky that it came off his back but I’ll take it however it comes. And the second one, great combination with Fredy and Sanna [Nyassi] out wide. I just made a run and Sanna picked me out and it’s an easy tap in. I was happy to get both those.”

(On moving forward . . .) “We have said that before. I don’t think we are going to win every game from here on out. I don’t think any team will. But it’s a case of we have been in every game we have played this year and we’ve been losing them. And now what we have been doing is turning those into wins. At D.C., it was 0-0 for 85 minutes, we get the win. Tonight we didn’t play great but we get the win. We just have to keep it going, I think. You see the momentum in the team. People are confident now. You saw [Nate] Jaqua came on, [Michael] Seamon came on, Blaise [Nkufo] made his first start so we have got a very deep squad and I think we just need to use that. It’s a very tough league, of course, but the last two wins have been big for us. So we just have to keep winning.”

Fredy Montero – Sounders FC Forward

(On starting both goal-scoring plays . . .) “It all starts with the indications from the coach, especially now with [Blaise] Nkufo on the field, playing a little bit more up front. I can come back and play a little bit more in the back and set up Blaise and other people in the front.”

(On Blaise Nkufo . . .) “The experience, first of all. And being a strong player he plays very strongly and that way we can cross balls and serve balls and we know that he will be ready for a header or just play with his back to the defender.”

(On goal exchange in first half . . .) “Their goal was total merit for the player. There’s really no one to blame. Just congratulations to Omar Cummings. But it was definitely important for us to come back quickly and close the game.”

Kasey Keller – Sounders FC Goalkeeper

(On defensive changes from first Colorado match . . .) “Well, in the first match, we just let Conor Casey do whatever he wants. He came off us and turned and collected everything. Today I felt that Pat [Ianni] and Jeff [Parke] did a tremendous job making sure everything he got he earned. They hit him a couple times because you know Conor is going to hit you. You have got to play hard against him and he is one of the best strikers in the league. He should have gone to the World Cup and he was a handful today once again, as always. I thought the guys did tremendous against him.”

(On his play of late . . .) “I have been happy with my form really, probably, since the break. I am just glad that I am able to help the team. I think a little bit of experience comes into play on probably that first header from Conor [Casey]. When he kind of had to check back to the ball I realized that the only way he is going to beat me is by looping it back over the top. I just didn’t think he was going to be able to do it as well as he did. I think having that little thought in my mind gave me that half a second that allowed me to get back to the ball. I am just happy that I am able to help the team get some points. A couple of great goals from Zakuani and just a tremendous team effort, all around.”

Gary Smith – Colorado Head Coach

(General comments…) “The disappointment is that in the opening ten minutes, we were second best. The game plan for them is pretty straightforward and simple. Apply pressure, lots of energy and they got some joy from that. Three times they got in behind us and twice they scored. To come away from home and concede two goals, really and truly, you’re not expecting to win a game of football. However, to take it back quickly and still come in down at the break was a bit of a body blow. We got a bit more stranglehold of the game after the 15 minute hurdle. Possession was better. We looked more comfortable. And then in the second period, I thought for a good portion, especially the middle, which culminated in a fabulous opportunity, I thought we were the better team. We chased it at the end and were looking for that elusive goal. The game gets stretched and there were more offensive players on the pitch. I still thought we maintained some good pressure. Some choices were off and some finishing was off and some deliveries into the box were poor. I have to give the guys credit in a difficult environment and after a bad start, to get themselves back in the game.”

Omar Cummings – Colorado Midfielder

(On goal…) “Pablo [Mastroeni] got a ball and chipped it over. I took a touch inside and shot. Once we got scored on, we knew that we had to score on them right away to get back in the game as quickly as possible before the game could run away from us.”

(On second half…) “I think we put good pressure, but it was unfortunate that it didn’t fall our way. They defended pretty well and we couldn’t get another goal.”

Matt Pickens – Colorado Goalkeeper

(On first 15 minutes…) “The start killed us, but after that we played alright. We needed to get some points here and unfortunately we didn’t. They had limited chances, but they scored. We had way more opportunities than they did. Being away from home, it’s overall a decent performance, but we didn’t get the points. I think the first 15 minutes killed us and everyone knows that. Giving up two goals is just unacceptable on the road. We need to really tie it down.”