Quick Review: Sounders so good they're unbelievable - now with stats and quotes

The Columbus Crew go down on Dollar Beer night and get silenced by the Sounders 4-nil. St Nkufo sets the boxscore a Blaise with a hatrick, the first ever in team history. The first half was actually much tighter than any stats will indicate, but the Blue beat the Yellow where it mattered.

That's a wad of really disconnected sentences isn't it?

Fact is that writing a recap of this could wind up quirky, or focus on things like the Clean Sheet, or Blaise Nkufo.

But it would be wasting time on a result that wasn't really in doubt after 40 minutes.

This was Seattle at exactly what it is designed to be. A team that absorbs pressure, and quickly unfolds. Today, we saw Sigi's Game again, and it was good. Attack the ball, attack the goal. Passing was generally quick and purposeful. Players were only rarely distracted by the referee.

It was a game against a Supporters Shield contender on their home pitch, and the Sounders played up to their competition. This is the kind of day that needed a bright spot in Seattle, and the Sounders have done exactly that.

Let's review those keys to the game I gave in the gamethread.

1 - Stop Guillermo Barros Schelotto - Check
2 - Steve Zakuani v Frankie Hejduk - Check
3 - Feed Nkufo - He's been fed

Oh, and one last disconnected sentence.

Blaise' third goal was off an assist from a young man who will eventually face the same choice Nkufo did. Who to represent. Nkufo chose his adopted homeland rather than Congo. Steve Zakuani though?

Stats  and quotes after the break

QUOTES

Sigi Schmid, Sounders FC head coach
On the game:
"I mean, obviously we’re happy with the result. Sometimes games go like that, where we get a goal early on off a corner kick. We never score on corner kicks and we put a big emphasis on that in our talks and in training, so it was nice to get a goal of that. We were very efficient tonight in our finishing. I thought we were unfortunate with that with Saprissa and in some of our Champions League games, so obviously [tonight] we’re very happy. I don’t think the difference between the two teams was four goals even though that was the score tonight."

"We got the early goal then the second goal by Blaise [Nkufo], which was a great goal. I thought Blaise had a great game for us tonight. Then we got the PK and we buried that, which was our first ever PK in the MLS. There was a period of time after we scored the goal that they completely dominated us for about 20 minutes."

Jeff Parke, Sounders FC defender
On the difference between a second and a third goal:
"It’s huge because when you’re [up] two-nothing, it’s a dangerous lead because all they need is one and the game switches momentum. But once we got the third [goal], we felt that air come out of them and obviously the fourth was icing on the cake. It was good. It relieved a lot of pressure and the guys could relax a bit."

On Nkufo scoring a Hat Trick:
"It was a great breakout game for him. He works hard and he’s deserving of it. He’s a great player, so it only takes a little time for the great ones to come out and he came out in a big way tonight."

Blaise Nkufo, Sounders FC forward
On his first goal as a Sounder:
"Yes, of course it’s a good feeling scoring my first goal in MLS and for the Sounders. But I think the most important tonight was the three points because we were not too confident after two games and we needed the three points"

On the Hat Trick:
"As a striker, I still believe I can score goals and tonight I knew it was going to be difficult… I think in the future, too. But I still believe, as I said, that for me the team is the most important and we needed the win tonight"

Robert Warzycha, Crew head coach
On the game:
"Absolutely, losing 4-0 at home is always disappointing. I think we came from the locker room a little bit flat, they [Seattle] had the first two or three minutes pushing for the goal and you could see that. They got that goal from a corner kick and then we started to play. We dominated the first half probably until the 41st minute when they got the second goal and it was an easy cross to defend but we over-shifted. The third goal was a penalty and that’s the last thing you want going to the locker room giving up another goal. But I think we played very well in the first half, we moved the ball very well creating a number of chances but we couldn’t buy a goal."

Eddie Gaven, Crew midfielder
On the game:
"Not much was said in here (the locker room). This is a game that was unacceptable for us to play at home in front of a great crowd. To go out there and lose 4-0 is something that should never happen. I would say every single guy is embarrassed. I think the hardest thing is that we didn’t play that bad at times and somehow we still lost the game 4-0 and I’m just trying to figure out why. It would’ve been huge if we were able to tie the game 1-1, but we weren’t able to do that and they punished us by scoring two more goals before the half and that really killed us good. I had a really good chance early on in the second half but couldn’t get it in and we just kept on taking more and more pressure and when they scored the fourth goal that was pretty much it."

William Hesmer, Crew goalkeeper
On the first goal and the game, in general:
"I had a first save on Nyassi, a second on a header, the third save I believe was on Nkufo and then I guess it popped right back to him I don’t know I didn’t see it. I think we had that fighting spirit there, but they punished us for going forward and before we knew it, in the blink of an eye, it was three – nothing going into halftime. We had some looks but we didn’t put away our chances and they put away their chances but I’d like to see us fight a bit more and be a little more prideful and not let that happen in our place."