Sounders FC 0 : 0 Houston Dynamo (Full Time)

Sounders FC and Houston failed to find the net on a pulsating night of football in front of a record crowd of 35,807. The sides will now reconvene on November 8th for the second leg at University of Houston’s Robertson Stadium. Both sides can claim some reason to be cheerful. Sounders outshot their opponents 14 to 9, although Houston had one more on target. Brad Davis was the star for Houston as he had been in the previous game here, and accounted for four of Houston’s nine efforts. For the home side, it was Brad Evans who was the pick of the players with a very influential performance although Pat Ianni was very effective at both ends of the pitch.

Luis Landin was relegated to the bench due to tendonitis in his knee amid fears of the effect of the Field Turf, and Dominic Oduro took his place. Sounders lined up as they had last week. A last minute change surprised all when Tyrone Marshall was withdrawn due to a minor ligament strain in his right knee. Pat Ianni was selected to play against his former colleagues. Zach Scott came onto the bench to replace him.

The chances started very early. From a third minute Stuart Holden corner, Canadian centre half Andrew Hainault beat everyone to the jump and headed just wide. 30 seconds later there was drama at the other end when Steve Zakuani powered through a static defence and drew a save from Onstad, after late selection Pat Ianni’s through ball had split their defence.

Three minutes later, Brian Mullan’s free kick caused momentary problems until Keller came to claim a loose ball. It soon became clear that Houston were having the better start. Stuart Holden and the effervescent Mullan worked wonders on the right with several intertwined passes, and Holden’s cross was pinpoint on Brad Davis’ head. Davis astonishingly missed the target with more than enough time to position himself.

It was Seattle’s turn to use a set piece assault when Jaqua met a Freddie Ljungberg corner on ten minutes. He won the header cleanly but couldn’t direct it on target.

The game finally began to settle into a pattern though Freddie Ljungberg had trouble getting to the early harrying pace of the game, and closer marking than he had suffered in recent weeks was hampering his freedom to operate. Brad Evans had made a good start and seemed to be covering the workload of more than one player.

Sounders came closest of all in the first half after just 13 minutes. A Ljungberg corner was met by Ianni. The Dynamo needed Brian Mullan’s header off the goal line with keeper Pat Onstad beaten.

Three minutes later, a shoving match broke out which resulted in yellows for Onstad and Fredy Montero after Onstad barged Montero over. It had begun innocuously after Nate Jaqua had headed a corner wide seconds before. For some reason, Onstad chose to shove Montero over after the ball had gone out of play. Houston alleged Montero had thrown an elbow at their keeper. Several minutes of shoving and pushing ensued. Onstad was lucky to escape a red, and Montero’s crime was hard to pinpoint, but referee Salazar awarded him a yellow card anyway. Perhaps the referee shied away afrom making a game changing call so early in the proceedings.

Brian Ching should have been booked for bad foul on Leo Gonzalez as the game became more physical, before providing Kasey Keller with his first real test in the 25th minute after the ref played a very good advantage from a bad Seattle tackle, which may have also attracted a yellow had there not been an advantage to play.

Then Ricardo Clark booted Jaqua in the face with a very high boot, as the big former Dynamo player attempted to win a midfield header. Jaqua was off the field for three minutes while his wound was cauterised. Clark escaped punishment as Salazar’s leniency threatened to rebound on him, and the game teetered on spiraling out of control.

The game entered a scrappy stage for ten minutes in which Seattle were the better side but no-one really created anything.

Three minutes before the interval, a Freddie Ljungberg free kick landed perfectly on Ianni’s head. The defender scorched the cross bar, and continued to look a threat as half time arrived. By then it was perhaps becoming clear that set pieces were both sides’ best chance of breaking the deadlock as the interval came and went.

Fredy Montero worked hard to beat a defender but Brad Evans headed wide in the first chance of the second half as the Sounders continued from where they left off in a slight but tentative ascendancy.

A slower start was made to the second half and highlights were few thereafter. Ljungberg did take a corner, to which Jaqua flicked out a heel but Montero couldn’t direct the loose ball quickly enough. Nate Jaqua started to bleed again and was forced to don a bandage for the second time this season against Houston. However this seemed to galvanise him and he continued to be a nuisance to his ex team mates as his development as a midfielder continued.

Brad Davis produced a fine save from Keller from a drive almost 30 yards out which forced the keeper to sprawl to his left to palm it round the post. Davis again tested Keller just before the hour after Holden and Hainault were involved in some neat interplay around the Seattle penalty box. Kasey was well up to both tasks as the two veteran goalkeepers shone.

Jaqua soon burst through breaking down the inside right channel. With no width on his right, he inched a perfect pass through to Montero. The Colombian stared straight at Onstad and put his shot narrowly wide. It was the Colombian’s last act on another less than special night for him as Roger Levesque replaced him with 63 minutes to go. Alonso was booked for fouling Dominic Oduro, Evans following shortly after.

Only great defending by Geoff Cameron prevented a breakaway Zakuani finding Ljungberg. His interception prevented a certain goal, as Zakuani’s pass inward was pretty well directed. Mullan was booked shortly after in 71 as Seattle seemed to be gaining an upper hand.

A Ljungberg corner found Jaqua who hit the target this time but Onstad reacted quickly to palm over in 72. It wasn’t just his speed but that he got sufficient power in his hands to direct it upwards that was impressive. Seattle were getting closer and closer. Mike Chabala cynically hauled down Ljungberg haring down the Seattle right and cleverly accepted a yellow, probably a good trade in the circumstances with just 15 minutes to go.

Seattle had the ball in the net as Jaqua harried two defenders around and inside the penalty box, but both had stopped play for a whistle blown some seconds before on the half way line. Ljungberg razed a more cautious Chabala on the right but his cross found only alert defenders as Seattle came incrementally closer to a goal despite a very well organised Houston back four.

But the finishing stages of the match were not to provide anything as Seattle gave the ball away far too often and too easily to pose any real threat to a fairly content and certainly very competent visiting side. To their credit, Houston were doing most of their defending inside the Seattle half as they coped superbly with all Seattle could throw at them.

Gonzalez put in a final very good cross from 30 yards out on the left which Levesque narrowly failed to direct in with his head in the last chance of the match.

But now both sides, with pride intact, will meet again in Texas with ten days to prepare.

Road to Seattle: RSL v Columbus Match Preview

Sounders FC: Kasey Keller; James Riley, Pat Ianni, Jhon Hurtado, Leo Gonzalez; Osvaldo Alonso, Steve Zakuani (Seb Le Toux 81′) Brad Evans, Nate Jaqua; Freddie Ljungberg, Fredy Montero (Roger Levesque 62′)

Substitutes Not Used: Terry Boss, Stephen King, Tyson Wahl, Zach Scott, Pete Vagenas

Houston Dynamo: Pat Onstad; Bobby Boswell, Geoff Cameron, Mike Chabala, Andrew Hainault; Stuart Holden, Brad Davis, Brian Mullan, Ricardo Clark; Brian Ching (Cam Weaver 88′), Dominic Oduro (Luis Landin 79′)

Substitutes Not Used: Tally Hall, Craig Waibel, Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett, Ryan Cochrane,

Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Attendance: 35, 807 (largest ever for this stage of the tournament, Seattle’s highest, seventh highest of all time including finals)

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