Marshall heads Sounders into sixth place

The Chicago Fire traveled to the Pacific Northwest for a late-season interconference clash with big playoff implications on Wednesday night in front of 39,269 at CenturyLink Field. Chad Marshall glanced in Andreas Ivanschitz’s corner on 24 minutes as Sounders jumped above the red line for the first time in 2016.

Proceedings started slowly, with neither side recording a shot in the first ten minutes. Chicago came into the match on five days’ rest compared to three for Seattle. In truth, both sides looked fatigued from their weekend fixtures in the opening opening quarter hour or more.

Nico Lodeiro finally got the match started in earnest on 11 minutes, forcing Sean Johnson to save low to his left from the top of the box.

Sounders opened the scoring on 24 minutes after beginning to have the better of the run of play. An in-swinging Ivanschitz corner from the right side found Chad Marshall unmarked at the near corner of the six yard box. Marshall headed down towards the left-hand post and the ball crossed the line and hit side netting. It was no more than Seattle deserved after looking comfortable up to that point. 

Fire would threaten several times throughout the half, mainly via David Accam. The speedster found himself in useful positions in the area on a number of occasions, but he missed high once and saw two other efforts blocked away. The visitors had little else to offer going forward other than what the Ghanaian provided.

Jordan Morris saw his one on one effort from a tight angle saved by Johnson on 40 minutes as Seattle ended the half on a good spell. At 1-0 they were good value for their lead and looked more likely to add onto it than concede. The sides each recorded five first half shots, but Sounders managed to possess a full 71% of the time. Such was their advantage over the Eastern Conference bottom-dwellers.

Sounders picked up where they left off as the second half began. Morris and Lodeiro continued to be the most dangerous players on the field, while Roman Torres and Chad Marshall kept things even tighter at the back than in the first half.

In fact, Chicago wouldn’t see a real chance at an equalizer until the last five minutes of the second half, creating just one shot on target in the entire period.

Sounders were less than clinical with opportunities, as well. Morris, Lodeiro and substitute Nelson Valdez all had chances to put the game out of reach, but Seattle never turned in a second goal.

David Arshakyan had two looks from inside the area in stoppage time, but Chicago never created enough on the night to merit a result. Sounders soldiered through a nervy three minutes of extra time and claimed the three points.

The victory leaves Sounders alone in 6th place in the West, good for the last playoff spot. It’s their first trip above the red line this season, coming after 30 games played. After losing 12 of their first 20 matches, Seattle have completed their turnaround under Interim Head Coach Brian Schmetzer, who is 6-1-3 in his first ten matches in charge of the club (in their MLS history, that is).

Chicago were officially eliminated from playoff contention with the loss. They next travel to Columbus this Saturday. Sounders, for their part, face a Cascadia derby match in Vancouver against the Whitecaps on Sunday.