Columbus Crew 0 : 1 Sounders FC

The Force was with Him
Photo: Joe Armand

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Old man Bill Shankly built the Liverpool side that came from nowhere to conquer England and then Europe.

He said many wise things about the game, but one more than any resonated around the Sounders Nation yesterday.

He said that the key to league football was to win when you don’t play well.

Last night in Columbus, Sounders had their woodwork rattled, Kasey Keller made some world class saves, Tyrone Marshall acrobatically hacked one of the line and of course Columbus missed a penalty.

The home side managed 16 shots with just two on goal, but Sounders left the Nordecke, which by all accounts was more than generous in its welcome to the returning coach Sigi Schmid, silenced with as good a display of battling and hanging in there as their delighted coach could have wished.

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Crew striker Robbie Rogers summed the night up from his perspective well, “I thought we played well. It stinks when you lose when you play well.”

The victory was doubly satisfying for Schmid, because not only was he returning to his old place of employment, but the winning goal came from Roger Levesque, who he had brought in for the suspended Nate Jaqua.

Sounders winning goal came in the 36th minute after Freddie Ljungberg had battled hard when surrounded by several Crew defenders. He found Brad Evans who tried to feed a slip pass through to Fredy Montero, in an onside position, but Crew goalkeeper William Hesmer came off his line to foil the Colombian.

But he failed to secure the ball cleanly and was badly out of position when the ball rebounded out to Levesque playing slightly behind Ljungberg. Given a nervous start to the game, it was astonishing juts how calmly Levesque rolled it, practically passed it into the back of the net for his first ever MLS goal.

The home side, defending an unbeaten regular season home run stretching back to 22 games had plenty of chances.

Eddie Gaven hit the post in the 24th minute, Steven Lenhart’s header was cleared off the line by Tyrone Marshall in the 71st minute and the usually reliable Guillermo Barros Schelotto missed the goal completely on the penalty, reminding many Sounders fans of the penalty miss by Freddie Ljungberg earlier in the season.

Crew could have had an earlier penalty in the 46th minute when Hurtado appeared to clumsily trip a forward just after a potential handball just outside the area hadn’t been called. Alejandro Moreno clearly anticipated that the next close call would go Columbus way, but was a little too eager and got himself booked for a ludicrous dive in the 56th minute.

Sounders hit the post themselves in the 75th minute from an Osvaldo Alonso effort outside the box. The ball rebounded onto Hesmer’s back and seemed goalbound for a cruel own goal before taking an incredible spin to slide just past the right hand post much to Hesmer’s relief. Kasey Keller came to Seattle’s  rescue with a smart low down save from Brian Carroll’s drive in the 75th minute.

Sounders can have no complaints about the penalty award, when it came. Just short of eighty minutes had past when Hurtado again unwisely shoved Eddie Gaven in the back. Gaven was in a particularly undangerous part of the  box and going away from goal.

Hurtado has had a great season and one of the things he normally excels in is man marking in the penalty area. Not so today. Gaven went down and referee Ricardo Salazar correctly pointed to the spot. Schelotto’s effort wasn’t anything to be proud of and Sounders finally knew this was to be their day. In fact, Seb Le Toux could have doubled the lead three minutes before the end, but put a superb chance wide. It wasn’t to matter.

The win leaves Sounders poised tantalisingly placed on 41 points. Mathematically, they need just one more and DC United sitting in ninth can’t catch them.  FC Dallas, Toronto or Real Salt Lake would have to win all three to finish above that that total as well. As they play each other on October 17th, both can’t win their remaining three games.

Columbus Crew remain in first place overall, although that once tight grip they had on the Supporters Shield has now been loosened a little. They face a tricky tie at New England next Saturday, which the Sounders have off. DC United and Real Salt Lake also don’t play next weekend, so the focus will switch to Toronto’s match at San Jose, who also entertain FC Dallas next Wednesday.

Columbus Crew: William Hesmer, Jed Zayner (Steven Lenhart 64), Eric Brunner, Danny O’Rourke, Gino Padula, Eddie Gaven, Brian Carroll, Kevin Burns (Emmanuel Ekpo 71), Robbie Rogers, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Alejandro Moreno (Emilio Renteria 77)

Substitutes not used: Kenny Schoeni, Andy Iro, Kevin Burns, Emilio Renteria, Adam Moffat, Duncan Oughton, Stanley Nyazamba

Seattle Sounders FC:Kasey Keller, James Riley, Tyrone Marshall, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leo Gonzalez, Freddie Ljungberg, Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Steve Zakuani (Sebastien Le Toux 64), Roger Levesque (Patrick Ianni 69), Fredy Montero (Peter Vagenas 89).

Substitutes Not Used: Nathan Sturgis, Tyson Wahl, Stephen King, Terry Boss.

USA League Table (after all weekend games)

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