2012 Jun 16 2012 Jun 16
Stade Saputo, Montreal, QC
Goals:
18' MON: Felipe Martins (Patrice Bernier)
51' MON: Justin Mapp (Patrice Bernier)
58' MON: Andrew Wenger (Patrice Bernier)
61' SEA: Eddie Johnson (Fredy Montero)
87' MON: Lamar Neagle
Montreal: Donovan Ricketts; Zarek Valentin, Matteo Ferrari (Shavar Thomas 33'), Nelson Rivas, Jeb Brovsky; Davy Arnaud, Patrice Bernier (Bernardo Corradi 77'), Felipe Martins, Collen Warner, Justin Mapp (Lamar Neagle 62'); Andrew Wenger.
Substitutes not used: Evan Bush, Tyson Wahl, Sanna Nyassi, Sinisa Ubiparipovic.
Seattle: Bryan Meredith; Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (sent off 56'), Marc Burch; Mauro Rosales (Cordell Cato 71'), Andy Rose, Brad Evans, Alvaro Fernandez (Alex Caskey 62'); Fredy Montero, Eddie Johnson (Servando Carrasco 82').
Substitutes not used: Andrew Weber, Mike Seamon, Roger Levesque, Sammy Ochoa.
Match report from Ron Stickney:
The Seattle Sounders FC suffered their worst MLS loss of the year, 4-1, on the road against the Montreal Impact.
Both sides were coming off a long break. The Sounders did not seem to return from vacation until after they were down a goal. The Impact were more motivated, as it was the inaugural match in the renovated Stade Saputo.
18' MON: Martins (Bernier). Montreal scored on the first good chance by either side. Patrice Bernier beat Zach Scott at the edge of the box with a cutback move, then centered the ball to Felipe Martins, who bent a 15-yard shot around Bryan Meredtith's stretch and into the lower far corner. 1-0 Montreal.
Seattle did not earn a shot until the 24th minute, when Brad Evans worked a give and go with Eddie Johnson to shoot from 25 yards, forcing a save by Donovan Ricketts. Johnson was next with a header from the spot from a fine cross by Alvaro Fernandez, but Johnson could not get on top of the ball. On Seattle's first corner kick, the ball ended up near Fredy Montero on the doorstep, but Ricketts knocked it wide and out. The next corner kick ended with another Johnson header, pressured high and wide.
At the end of the half Andy Rose fed Evans 15 yards from goal for a quick shot, but it went right to Ricketts.
Seattle started the second half as poorly as the first, giving the momentum back to Montreal. The first shots came from distance, with Jeb Brovsky trying from 35 yards and Nelson Rivas trying to put a free kick in from the same distance, neither shot close.
51' MON: Mapp (Bernier). A Montreal throw-in from their end had Bernier sending the ball across the pitch to Justin Mapp, who embarrassed the Sounders defense with a run to the arc with little resistance for a shot into the lower near corner. 2-0 Montreal.
Seattle had a chance when Collen Warner handled the ball 23 yards from goal, but Montero's free kick did not have enough velocity to beat Ricketts to the top near corner.
The Sounders were unlucky at 56' when Jhon Kennedy Hurtado was sent off when Warner ran into his outstretched leg. It was the first red card of the year for the Sounders, and it was not deserved.
58' MON: Wenger (Bernier). Seattle promptly put themselves deeper in the hole when they gave up a soft goal from the free kick play that resulted from the red card. The free kick was cleared well, but Bernier too easily turned it back towards goal and threaded a pass up the middle to Andrew Wenger at the top of the arc. Wenger turned away from Parke and was easily in with only Meredith to beat, and he beat the keeper with a shot to the near side as Meredith cheated the other way. 3-0 Montreal.
61' SEA: Johnson (Montero). Seattle's best attack gave them a goal. Fernandez passed to Montero in the middle of Montreal's end, and Montero sent a nice ball in front of Johnson's run. Ricketts was a bit late coming out to challenge, and Johnson lifted the ball over the sliding keeper for the goal. 3-1 Montreal.
Ex-Sounder Lamaer Neagle replaced Mapp at 62' and was soon shooting, trying a quick shot from the 18 that was not close. He was next served open on the left for a 15-yard shot that went right to Meredith.
At 85' Rivas was lucky to get only a yellow card for a scissoring, two-footed slide under Montero from behind. It will surely get reviewed by the disiplinary committee.
87' MON: Neagle. Neagle carried the ball into the penalty area and seemed to be stopped, but Marc Burch's attampted clearance ended with a sitter in front of goal, and Neagle hammered it in. 4-1 Montreal.
Statistics:
MON SEA
Shots: 12 12
Saves: 5 1
Corners: 5 5
Fouls: 20 18
Offsides: 2 1
Misconduct:
22' SEA: Parke cautioned for a tactical foul after turning the ball over
56' SEA: Hurtado sent off inappropriately when Warner ran into his outstretched leg
70' SEA: Johnson cautioned for no apparent reason
76' SEA: Montero cautioned for tripping from behind
79' MON: Thomas cautioned for a tactical foul on Johnson
85' MON: Rivas cautioned for a two-footed scissoring slide into Montero that deserved a red card
Referees: Mark Geiger; Adam Wienchckowski, James Cowlee; Jose Carlos Rivero
Attendance: 17,112
Post-Match Quotes
Seattle Sounders FC
Sigi Schmid - Head Coach
Overview: "I thought it took us 20 minutes to get into the game. By that point we were already down 1-0. Then we got more of the game. We had some chances. We didn't convert our chances. And then in the second half we gave away some goals, and the red card certainly hurt us at a time it was 2-0. I thought we gave away soft goals tonight. That's something that we can't do. I think we certainly have to play much better than we played tonight."
"I didn't think our pressure was good enough. The third goal Flaco just lets the guy turn, and Andy Rose doesn't step and close him down. And then Wenger makes a good run and Meredith gives it away to the near post. Those are three mistakes on one play. We've got to eliminate that."
On playing without Osvaldo Alonso again: "I don't think Ozzie would have made a difference today. I didn't think we played well enough. Early on in the game we gave them confidence. They were obviously opening up their stadium, so they were going to play with enthusiasm. I thought we played on the back foot the first 20 minutes."
On Hurtado's red card: "I know that Rivas' tackle should have been a red card. He comes into Montero from behind and that's a yellow. I don't know if Hurtado’s tackle was worse."
On the offense: "I thought we had some chances ... It's on both sides of the field. Offensively and defensively we need to improve and sharpen up."
On possible changes for Wednesday: "Everybody individually needs to play better or we need to put guys on the field who can play better. We've just got to find guys who can play better."
On Montreal's renovated stadium: "I think that certainly helped them. Anytime you open up your stadium you're going to be motivated and try to play well. Obviouly they did that. They fulfilled their obligations. We didn't fulfill our obligation of holding strong and battling."
On the end of the 10-game road unbeaten streak: "We're a good road team. There's nothing that happened today that's going to change my mind on that. But obviously when you give up four goals that's an issue. As I told the guys in the locker room, if we can play 1-1 when we're playing a man down, then certainly we shouldn't be losing 3-0 when we're playing even."
On the referee: "I thought the Rivas tackle on Montero was pretty extreme from behind, and that was only a yellow card, and Hurtado was a straight red. From my perspective it looks questionable."
Fredy Montero
About his 100th match with the Sounders: "It was the game No. 100 for me and it was meaningful. I can't change what we did tonight. But we will have another opportunity Wednesday and hopefully we'll do better and get the three points."
About Seattle's goal: "I received the ball from Alvaro and then played to Eddie and he went one on one to goalie and chipped the ball in."
Zach Scott
About the game: "They were just better than us tonight. It's frustrating; it's not indicative of the team we are. It's embarrassing to lose like that, to be down a man and then start to play. It felt like they were playing with a couple more guys than us the entire game. But besides getting a man sent off, we didn't close down space, we didn't do what we were supposed to do."
About the team: "We've been down before. We know what it takes to come back and pull out a result. It's unfortunate, but we just need to get back on how we play successfully and not worry about what the other team does. We need to go back to what we're good at and play our type of possession soccer."
Montreal Impact
Jesse Marsch - Head Coach
On the game: "Seattle is a good team, so it wasn't an easy first game. But I think that was the way you open a new stadium. We had a lot of good performances tonight."
On finishing strong: "When we got the lead, it felt like we would have to get another as Seattle was pushing and they have a lot of talented players on that team. I still think we are learning to manage the game when we are up a man. It takes a lot of hard work and we did that tonight."
On Bernier's performance: "He was very strong for us tonight. He balanced us and defended well. He did a good job of initiating the attack. Once he was able to link up with Collen and the attacking players, we were successful. I'm happy for him."
On the crowd: "It was hard to communicate on the field, but there was a lot great energy. In the second half you could feel that sense of pride. They started seeing some good things from our team, and tonight we showed them that we are a good team and we will continue to get better."
Patrice Bernier
On the team's performance: "We were very excited for the game and our first goal gave us some energy. A win like this is great in our new home with a great atmosphere, it was a special feeling. We can't ask for anything more than scoring four goals at home in a win."
On his own performance: "Things are going well for me now. I felt I had a good performance against Colorado, but the team lost. A victory like tonight makes it easier to appreciate a good outing personally because the most important thing is getting the three points."
Jeb Brovsky
On the red card: "When that tackle on Collen Warner happened, we all came together and said, 'We've seen this three times now, so let's focus and make sure that we take care of things defensively and keep going forward.'"
On staying focused: "When they got a red card, we had to refocus. When they got their goal, we needed to refocus again because we wanted to finish strong and not lose the lead. We did a great job of coming together on the field; the subs came on and were fantastic."
