2009 Jun 13 2009 Jun 13
Qwest Field, Seattle, WA
Goals:
42' SEA: Freddie Ljungberg (Sebastien Le Toux, Fredy Montero)
59' SEA: Montero (Patrick Ianni, Ljungberg)
68' SJ: Darren Huckerby (Ryan Johnson, Shea Salinas)
Seattle: Kasey Keller; Tyson Wahl, Tyrone Marshall, Patrick Ianni, James Riley; Steve Zakuani (Roger Levesque 77'), Brad Evans, Stephen King, Freddie Ljungberg; Sebastien Le Toux, Fredy Montero (Osvaldo Alonso 74'). Substitutes not used: Ben Dragavon, Evan Brown, Nathan Sturgis, Peter Vagenas, Sanna Nyassi.
San Jose: Joe Cannon; Michael Zaher (Quincy Amarikwa 81'), Jason Hernandez, Aaron Pitchkolan, Chris Leitch; Darren Huckerby, Antonio Ribeiro (Shea Salinas 57'), Ramiro Corrales, Arturo Alvarez; Chris Wondolowski, Ryan Johnson (Pablo Campos 85'). Substitutes not used: Andrew Weber, Eric Denton, Kelly Gray.
Match report by Ron Stickney
Freddie Ljungberg and Fredy Montero staked the host Seattle Sounders FC to a 2-0 lead over the San Jose Earthquakes. An unfortunate Sounders giveaway led to a 'Quakes goal by Darren Huckerby, but the Sounders held on for the win.
Suspended for the match were Nate Jaqua (red card) and Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (five yellow cards). Starting in their places were Sebastien Le Toux and Patrick Ianni.
Seattle's attack was entertaining as forwards Le Toux and Montero and starting right midfielder Ljungberg rotated positions throughout the match. At different times, each of them worked the right touch line. Steve Zakuani was isolated on the left touch line and used his speed to get around defender Chris Leitch several times to roll tantalizing crosses in front of goal. The first of those came on 7 minutes, and Ljungberg couldn't quite get to it in time at the far post.
San Jose's first chance came at 14' when Huckerby crossed to Ryan Johnson for the first shot of the match, taken while Johnson was spinning ten yards from goal, but it missed wide.
At 19' Earthquakes defender Jason Hernandez earned a yellow card with a blatant tactical foul on Zakuani to prevent him from streaking in with the ball on a counterattack, but for some unknown reason referee Silviu Petrescu kept the card in his pocket.
Zakuani's next cross came midway in the first half after a feed from Patrick Ianni. This time it was Montero who almost got it, but his marker played it out for a corner kick. The corner kick was semi-cleared to Ianni, who shot it just over the bar.
A minute later another Seattle corner kick was nodded to the far post for a shot by Montero, and Joe Cannon made a great save, slapping it wide. Cannon had several saves in the half worthy of consideration for goal of the week.
On the half hour mark Ljungberg's long free kick bounced through the crowd just out of the reach of Brad Evans and Cannon made a fine save to prevent the ball entering the goal at the lower far corner. Two minutes later Ljungberg's shot from 20 yards was slowed by a defender and taken by Cannon.
Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller's first save came at 38' on a soft header from Johnson from a long free kick.
Then Ljungberg fed Zakuani for another of his fine crosses, this one a diagonal dropped pass from the left end line to Montero. The low, hard shot was deflected by Cannon's foot along the goal line and out, leaving Montero wandering in front of goal in disbelief. This one seems like the nominee for goal of the week.
42' SEA: Ljungberg (Le Toux, Montero). San Jose's defense had done just enough to prevent a goal for nearly the whole half, but it went to pieces when Hernandez stepped on the ball and fell down with Montero and Ljungberg pressuring San Jose's back line. Ljungberg made a short pass to Montero and took off towards goal. Montero played the ball square to Le Toux, whose pass in front of Ljungberg was perfectly weighted. Ljungberg let Cannon start to go down, then chipped over Cannon's arms and inside the near post. 1-0 Seattle.
Johnson had a chance to pull San Jose level two minutes from intermission when he found a loose ball in front of goal, but he missed the top far corner.
Halftime: Seattle 1 - 0 San Jose
After dominating the first half, Seattle continued their pressure to open the second. Le Toux's corner kick was headed to the far side by Ianni for Tyrone Marshall, who headed it over the bar.
At 51' San Jose's newly signed Antonio Ribeiro shot from distance and forced Keller's second and last save.
A minute later Seattle was back on the attack with Evans feeding Zakuani for a shot from the left, right to Cannon at the near post. Then San Jose had about six minutes of good possession, with Seattle preventing any scoring opportunities.
59' SEA: Montero (Ianni, Ljungberg). The momentum shifted back to Seattle on a corner kick. Ljungberg sent the corner kick in the air in front of goal, where Ianni under pressure was able to head it down to an unmarked Montero at the far post. Montero took a touch to gain control and blasted a low shot under Cannon. 2-0 Seattle.
A minute later San Jose had a good chance from 15 yards up the middle, but a defender stuck out a foot and deflected the shot a yard over the bar.
68' SJ: Huckerby (Johnson, Salinas). After struggling to get the ball out of their penalty area, Montero made an unwise pass back towards the area. It was a gift for substitute Shea Salinas, who quickly found Johnson open on the left. Johnson sent a square cross along the 6-yard line and Huckerby was running straight up the middle unmarked to finish. 2-1 Seattle.
Seattle's defense held off the Earthquakes for the last quarter of the match, giving up just one good chance when a San Jose corner kick was cleared and then popped back in. Johnson got the loose ball with Keller off his line, but Johnson's shot just missed the top far corner.
Final: Seattle 2 - 1 San Jose
Statistics:
SEA SJ
Shots: 12 8
Saves: 2 6
Corners: 10 3
Fouls: 15 21
Offsides: 3 2
Misconduct:
16' SJ: Pitchkolan cautioned
34' SJ: Corrales cautioned for tripping Riley
43' SEA: Evans cautioned
50' SJ: Ribeiro cautioned for pulling down Ljungberg
73' SEA: Montero cautioned for handling the ball
90' SJ: Wondolowski cautioned for getting Levesque in the air
90' SEA: Ljungberg cautioned for kicking an opponent in retaliation
Referees: Silviu Petrescu; Craig Lowry, David Bragg; Yader Reyes
Attendance: 28,999
Additional match reports:
