The Seattle Sounders stole a dramatic road point against the Portland Timbers last Sunday in what was their arguably their best effort of the season. Down a man and a goal for the entire second half, substitute Clint Dempsey headed home an equalizer in the 94th minute to stun Providence Park.
The entire sequence, though — Roman Torres’ pinpoint cross to Dempsey, Dempsey’s towering header and the unlikeliest of goals — did not matriculate from nothing. What led to the Sounders’ game-tying tally was a seemingly inconspicuous defensive play by Cristian Roldan on Dairon Asprilla.
Nearing the end of the 93rd minute, the Timbers cleared the ball from their own 18-yard-box and found Asprilla in open space on the left side of the pitch. Desperate for an equalizer, the Sounders had thrown almost everyone forward, which in turn left Asprilla and Fanendo Adi in a 2-on-2 situation with Nouhou and a retreating Roldan.
Rather than sprinting back aimlessly, Roldan defended with purpose, coming in goalside on an angle behind Asprilla.
When Asprilla finally received the ball, his options were limited because of Roldan’s positioning. Asprilla turned and faced backward, attempting to hold up the ball in search of a teammate. He never gets the chance to find one.
Hanging on Asprilla’s right shoulder, Roldan reached his left leg around Asprilla and poked the ball away. Roldan then quickly led the Sounders back in the ascendancy and left an off-balanced Asprilla on the Providence Park turf.
What Roldan’s stalwart defending did was not only unbalance Asprilla, but the entire Portland team that had just begun pushing forward to clear its own end in anticipation of an attack. Roldan recognized this and picked out Osvaldo Alonso wide open in the center of the park.
The Timbers were scrambling at this point, but they were not totally undone until Dempsey set up his own attempt on goal with a simple off-the-ball run that very few players would have had the wherewithal to make.
Alonso had the ball and was looking for Dempsey to his right, but he was being trailed by Diego Chara with Ben Zemanski blocking Alonso’s passing lane.
Rather than stay put or check back to Alonso, Dempsey saw a pocket of space behind Zemanski and to Zemanski’s right. Dempsey ran toward it and by doing so, pulled Chara out of position and forced Zemanski to lean in that direction, opening a giant passing lane for Alonso to find the late run of Torres.
Another reason why Dempsey was able to able to rise and meet Torres’ cross without much resistance was because his run into the box was unimpeded. When the ball swung wide to Torres, Chara shifted his attention and left Dempsey free to roam.
This left the two Timbers center backs with very little time to communicate on whose responsibility it was to guard Dempsey. By the time they figured it out, Dempsey was jumping over Amobi Okugo and redirecting Torres’ cross past a helpless Jake Gleeson in goal.
Dempsey’s finish was a fantastic one and is another example of why he’s on the brink of becoming the United States’ all-time leading goalscorer, but it would not have happened without his subtle off-the-ball movement and a little help from the Swiss army knife that is Cristian Roldan. Goals don’t happen in a vacuum. Singular moments of brilliance are always preceded by several small but vital plays, and the Sounders proved that yet again on Sunday.
