2009 Apr 11 2009 Apr 11
Qwest Field, Seattle, WA
Goals:
80' KC: Davy Arnaud (Jack Jewsbury)
Seattle: Kasey Keller (sent off 29'); Zach Scott (Sanna Nyassi 86'), Tyrone Marshall, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, James Riley; Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Freddie Ljungberg (Steve Zakuani 81'), Sebastien Le Toux (Ben Dragavon 30'); Fredy Montero, Nate Jaqua. Substitutes not used: Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl, Nathan Sturgis, Roger Levesque.
Kansas City: Kevin Hartman; Matt Besler, Aaron Holbein, Jimmy Conrad, Lance Watson; Josh Wolff, Jack Jewsbury, Santiago Hirsig (Michael Kraus 64'), Herculez Gomez (Michael Harrington 76'); Davy Arnaud, Claudio Lopez (Roger Espinoza 82'). Substitutes not used: Boris Pardo, Rauwshan McKenzie, Kevin Souter, Abe Thompson.
Match report by Ron Stickney
The Seattle Sounders FC suffered their first defeat at home to the Kansas City Wizards 1-0. Seattle's task became challenging when Kasey Keller was sent off at 29' for stopping a shot with his hands outside the penalty area. The Sounders fought valiantly with ten men, but gave up a goal to Davy Arnaud late in the match.
Both Freds, Montero and Ljungberg, started for Seattle for the first time, and it was Steve Zakuani who was relegated to the bench. He replaced Ljungberg late in the match.
Seattle's scoreless start to their MLS campaign lasted 349 minutes.
The first good shot was Seattle's at 8' from Montero on a Ljungberg feed, headed out by the defense for a corner kick.
The Wizards had a good chance at 11' when goalkeeper Kevin Hartman's free kick from his 18-yard line went off Zach Scott's head and inadvertently gave Claudio Lopez a shot with only Keller to beat. Keller blocked the shot and gave up a rebound, but got to it before an attacker could.
A promising Seattle attack at 12' gave Montero a shot, but a defender a few yards from goal deflected it out for a corner.
Seattle had the momentum until the 29th minute, when Herculez Gomez sprinted by the defense to claim a through ball. He tried to put a shot by the charging Keller from 25 yards. Keller slid outside the penalty area to block it, but he couldn't get his arms out of the way and was red-carded for stopping an obvious goal scoring opportunity. Ben Dragavon came on as goalkeeper, replacing Sebastien Le Toux. Dragavon isn't on the official Sounders roster, but he is in the MLS goalkeeper pool and trains with the Sounders. Dragavon was the backup goalkeeper for the Sounders the past few years. On the restart, Lopez sent the free kick a couple of yards over the bar.
The short-handed Sounders earned a chance just before the break when a long ball was served to Montero. He did well to win the ball and tried a long shot, but Hartman did well to get back to make the save.
Halftime: Seattle 0 - 0 Kansas City
Seattle came out the aggressors to start the second half. A Ljungberg free kick from the right touch line seemed aimed for someone at the far post, but it was a bit too high. A Seattle corner kick was headed well over the bar by Nate Jaqua. At 60' a Seattle free kick near the top left corner of the penalty area was touched a yard sideways by Ljungberg for a shot by Montero that cleared the wall and glanced off the top of the crossbar. At 65' Seattle had their best shot when they kept the ball from going over the end line and centered it, where Jaqua passed it to Montero for an excellent chance. Montero's shot looked true, but a defender managed to head it wide for a corner.
Kansas City finally managed a good shot at 78' when Lopez got open on the right for a shot aimed at the far post. Dragavon did well to one-hand it wide.
80' KC: Arnaud (Jewsbury). Taking a short square pass from Jewsbury, Arnaud had an open look at the goal from 25 yards and launched a hard shot at the far post. Dragavon appeared to have the shot with a dive to his right, but it slipped through his hands and into the goal. 1-0 Kansas City.
Seattle managed one more chance at 88' when Zakuani crossed to Jaqua for a header from 6 yards but it went a yard wide of the near post.
Final: Seattle 0 - 1 Kansas City
Statistics:
SEA KC
Shots: 9 10
Saves: 6 3
Corners: 7 5
Fouls: 15 22
Offsides: 2 3
Misconduct:
4' SEA: Evans cautioned for a trip from behind at the halfway line
10' KC: Jewsbury cautioned for a foul on Riley near the halfway line
29' SEA: Keller sent off for handling outside the penalty area to deny a goal scoring opportunity
71' KC: Kraus cautioned for tripping Ljungberg from behind in Seattle's half
90' KC: Hartman cautioned for delaying the restart on a Kansas City free kick
Referees: Obiodun Okulaja; Anthony nVasoli, Eric Boria; Ricardo Salazar
Attendance: 28,746
Other match reports:
