BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. - Obafemi Martins scored a first-half brace as Sounders FC (10-3-2, 32 points) defeated the Chicago Fire (2-4-8, 14 points), 3-2, Saturday night at Toyota Park. Lamar Neagle netted the second-half winner as Harrison Shipp scored both goals for Chicago.
Seattle now heads into the World Cup break first in the Supporters' Shield standings, leading the league with 32 points and 2.13 points per game.
Martins struck first in the 31st minute when he gathered a deflected Brad Evans pass deep in the box, turned and fired a shot past Sean Johnson.
Six minutes later, Martins made it 2-0 on a penalty kick after being fouled by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado in the box. The striker converted low and to the right for his eighth goal of the season, matching his total from 2013.
Chicago pulled one back in the 41st when Shipp received a pass from Quincy Amarikwa, dribbled into some space on the left side of the box, and slotted a low shot past Stefan Frei and inside the far post.
Neagle made it 3-1 in the 78th minute with his fifth goal of the season. Kenny Cooper headed Marco Pappa's cross to a Neagle in the box, and the Federal Way-native blasted a right-footed shot into the far corner of the net.
Shipp responded again four minutes later with a 10-yard rocket to the far top corner of the net, assisted again Amarikwa.
Frei recorded three saves en route to his career-high 10th win of the season. He made crucial back-to-back stops in the 59th minute, first leaping to knock a Jeff Larentowicz header over the crossbar, then stopping Amarikwa's point-blank shot after the ensuing corner kick. In the 88th, he prevented an equalizer by diving to the right to save a Juan Luis Anangono shot from close range.
Both teams played the majority of the match with 10 men as Hurtado and Martins were issued first-half red cards.
Sounders FC will face PSA Elite in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, June 18 at Starfire Stadium. Following the World Cup break, Seattle returns to MLS action with a road match at D.C. United on June 28.
Scoring Summary:
SEA - Obafemi Martins 31'
SEA - Obafemi Martins (penalty) 38'
CHI - Harrison Shipp (Quincy Amarikwa) 41'
SEA - Lamar Neagle (Kenny Cooper, Marco Pappa) 78'
CHI - Harrison Shipp (Quincy Amarikwa) 82'
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Brad Evans, Chad Marshall, Jalil Anibaba, Leo Gonzalez; Lamar Neagle (Zach Scott 90+1), Osvaldo Alonso, Gonzalo Pineda, Marco Pappa (Micheal Azira 79); Chad Barrett (Kenny Cooper 66), Obafemi Martins.
Substitutes Not Used: Marcus Hahnemann, Aaron Kovar, Sean Okoli, Cam Weaver.
TOTAL SHOTS: 8 (Martins 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Martins, Neagle 2); FOULS: 13 (Gonzalez, Pineda 3); OFFSIDE: 5 (Barrett 3); CORNER KICKS: 6 (Pappa 4); SAVES: 3 (Frei 3).
Chicago Fire - Sean Johnson; Lovel Palmer, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Bakary Soumare, Gonzalo Segares; Grant Ward (Victor Pineda 76), Jeff Larentowicz, Chris Ritter (Juan Luis Anangono 63), Benji Joya (Alex 70); Harry Shipp, Quincy Amarikwa.
Substitutes Not Used: Kyle Reynish, Patrick Ianni, Greg Cochrane, Matt Watson.
TOTAL SHOTS: 11 (Larentowicz 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 5 (Shipp 2); FOULS: 19 (Amarikwa 6); OFFSIDE: 2 (Amarikwa, Palmer 1); CORNER KICKS: 7 (Shipp 7); SAVES: 2 (Johnson 2).
Misconduct Summary:
CHI - Chris Ritter (caution) 8'
SEA - Obafemi Martins (caution) 8'
CHI - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution) 24'
CHI - Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (ejection) 37'
SEA - Obafemi Martins (ejection) 42'
CHI - Quincy Amarikwa (caution) 90+2'
SEA - Gonzalo Pineda (caution) 90+2'
SEA - Stefan Frei (caution) 90+3'
Referee: Chris Penso
Referee's Assistants: Corey Parker, Peter Balciunas
4th Official: Kevin Terry, Jr.
Attendance: 16,416
Time of Game: 1:56
Weather: Cloudy and 77 degrees
