Score: Sounders FC 1 vs. Columbus Crew 2.
Site: CenturyLink Field
Records: Sounders FC 2-2-0 (6 points); Crew 3-0-0 (9 points)
Man of the Match: Before Djimi Traore was sent off with a red card in the 58th minute, the Man of the Match likely would have been Kenny Cooper, who wreaked havoc on the Columbus defense throughout the first half with early runs up the flanks, tallying his first goal of the season in the 22nd minute. However, the match changed with the penalty and the midfield play of Osvaldo Alonso throughout the match became paramount for Seattle. Over the first 60 minutes, Alonso’s defensive play in the middle of the field stifled most of the Columbus efforts to gain any advantage from its possession edge and over the course of the final 30 minutes, he did well to keep the Crew from getting into threatening positions. In the end, all was for naught as the Crew earned the match-winner on a quickly taken corner kick and a well-placed shot by Justin Meram to down Seattle, 2-1.
Telling Stat: 71-percent. Over the final 30 minutes of the match, Columbus held 71-percent of the possession while playing with the man-advantage. In that time, the Crew garnered seven of its 15 shots, but even still, Seattle was able to hold off the late charge until the final kick from Meram in the fourth-minute of added time.
What You Missed: The loss on Saturday ended a sterling streak for Sounders FC that saw the club go unbeaten in its last 51 matches at 40-0-11 when scoring first. That streak crashed to a halt with the Crew’s stoppage-time winner. The last time Sounders FC scored first and lost the match was on October 23, 2010, in a 2-1 loss to the Houston Dynamo to close out the season.
So What: Seattle will play its next match against the Portland Timbers without the services of Djimi Traore and the 1-2-0 start at home marks the most home losses in the first three matches in club history. Last season, Seattle went 0-1-2 in the first three, but finished the year with a stellar 10-2-5 regular-season record at CenturyLink Field.
That’s What He Said: “It always sucks to lose in the last second. You win some like that and you lose some like that, but it never really feels good.” Dylan Remick said after Sounders FC’s stoppage-time defeat.
