Captions by Toby Dunkelberg Photos by Max Aquino and Francine Scott
After a disappointing 0-3 start to the their MLS season the Seattle Sounders welcomed the eastern conference leading Montreal Impact to CenturyLink Field. Both sides were missing key players with Montreal missing Didier Drogba, and the Sounders forced into starting Aaron Kovar, Dylan Remick, and Cristian Roldan due to injuries and players returning from international duties.
The game started quickly with the Sounders earning a stunning chance early on. Clint Dempsey snuck his way down the left wing and narrowly missed an onrushing Aaron Kovar near the six yard box.
The Sounders remained dominant early on limiting Montreal to lone runs forward from Oduro and Piatti.
A large part of Seattle’s success was due to their fullbacks, who played very aggressively, frequently acting as wingers. That extra wrinkle to Seattle’s attack forced Montreal to ceed the midfield allowing Seattle to dominate possession.
Despite the Sounders leading in every offensive metric, Montreal managed to kept it scoreless in the first half.
The second half started much the same way as Seattle’s season so far with the Sounders pushed forward controlling the game, but unable to find that final creative touch to get generate a goal.
In the 57th minute Aaron Kovar made way for Jordan Morris who came on as the target forward, pushing Valdez out wide and Seattle back into their more frequently used 4-3-3.
With Seattle’s switch, Montreal saw more space in the midfield and started challenging Seattle down the middle. This only intensified when Oalex Anderson came on for Valdez in the 68th minute, pushing Seattle into an even more attack oriented formation that slowly started to generate results at the expense of their defensive solidity.
The 39,705 Sounders fans in attendance were finally rewarded in 74th minute. Ivanschitz’s service off a corner floated far post to a waiting Clint Dempsey, who headed it down and goalward to put Seattle up 1-0.
The Sounders kept up the pressure and generated a few more golden opportunities. The best of which came from Oalex Anderson in the 79th minute. The youngster expertly weaved his way past three defenders and outran the rest. In the excitement he failed to look up, missing a wide open Morris and Dempsey, both in on goal. Instead, Anderson opted to run for the goal allowing enough time for Toia to win the ball back.
The Impact pressed hard for the equalizer in the final ten minutes and despite a few concerning chances, the Sounders narrowly managed to hold on for their first win of the season.
With the winless monkey finally off their backs, the Sounders shift their focus to next weeks matchup against the Houston Dynamo. Currently sitting at 10th place in the Western Conference, Seattle’ll be eager to earn another three points.
