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Going across three timezones, earning a shutout and settling for a point is hardly a worst-case scenario. Like all ties, though, I think both teams can probably look back on it and feel as though they should have claimed all three points. For my money, the Seattle Sounders have a more rightful claim to that idea.
Nick DeLeon says it would have been "tragic" if the Sounders had won, but I'm not so sure it would have been wholly undeserved.
If Marc Burch's header had been a few inches lower, the Sounders would be heading home on an absolute high. But that was just one of several missed chances. The two best belonged to Alvaro Fernandez and Roger Levesque, either of whom could have changed the game if they had better executed their chances.
The Sounders really dominated the periphery stats, as well. They won a whopping 57 percent of the duels, completed more than 50 more passes and took three more shots than United. Possession is not a statistic that we like to really look at, but the Sounders won that battle, too, holding the ball for 52 percent of the game.
United was not without chances and definitely created some danger, especially in the latter third of the match. But Michael Gspurning did a good job of cutting off crosses and Jeff Parke showed no signs of rust in his first start of the season.
At the end of the day, I do think there's a little bit of a concern that the Sounders haven't scored from the run of play in three weeks. But this defense is also better than many expected it to be. There's really no shame in that.
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SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC at D.C. UNITED |
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April 7, 2012 -- RFK Stadium - Washington, D.C. |
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Goals by Period |
1 |
2 |
Tot |
|
Seattle Sounders FC |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
0 |
0 |
0 |
Scoring Summary:
NONE
Seattle Sounders FC: Michael Gspurning, Zach Scott, Patrick Ianni, Jeff Parke, Leo Gonzalez, Roger Levesque, Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Alvaro Fernandez (Marc Burch 92), Fredy Montero, David Estrada (Eddie Johnson 66).
Substitutes Not Used: Andrew Weber, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Christian Sivebaek, Alex Caskey, Servando Carrasco.
D.C. United: Joe Willis, Robbie Russell (Chris Korb 74), Emiliano Dudar, Dejan Jakovic, Daniel Woolard, Danny Cruz (Chris Pontius 59), Perry Kitchen, Dwayne De Rosario, Nick DeLeon, Maicon Santos, Hamdi Salihi (Branko Boskovic 72).
Substitutes Not Used: Josh Wolff, Stephen King, Lewis Neal, Andrew Dykstra.
TEAM STATS Sounders FC United
Shots
Shots on Goal 2
Fouls
Offsides
Corner Kicks 1
Saves
Misconduct
Summary: Sounders United
Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Referee's Assistants: Anthony Vasoli, James Conlee
4th Official: Sorin Stoica
Attendance: 15,651
Time of Game: 1:52
Weather: 61 degrees and sunny
All Statistics contained in the boxscore are unofficial.
Sounders FC Head Coach Sigi Schmid
On the game: I thought it was good. I thought the battle that we showed was very good. Basically, we talked about that. I thought last week San Jose outcompeted us a little bit, so I wanted to make sure that we came out and competed and I thought we did that from the opening whistle to the end.
On the play of Osvaldo Alonso: I thought [Osvaldo Alonso] did a great job on DeRo [Dwayne De Rosario]. I thought DeRo got frustrated towards the end of the first half and [Osvaldo Alonso] ended up paying the price for that a little bit. I thought he did a good job of shutting him down and eventually they moved DeRo up to get him away from [Osvaldo Alonso]. He did a good job for us and I also thought the center of our defense did well.
On the play of goalkeeper Michael Gspurning: It was good. When he is able to come out and punch those balls clear it makes it a lot easier on our defenders because they know they have a goalkeeper that's going to get to those balls. He made a good save on [Nick] DeLeon's free kick when it looked to a lot of people like DeLeon might have caught him, but he came through and he read that really well. He came up with some big saves tonight for sure.
Goalkeeper Michael Gspurning
On his team's performance: I'm pretty happy with our performance because we controlled the game. D.C. [United] had a couple of chances, so I think the point is OK on the road. To take this point I think is important.
On saving Nick Deleon's free kick: I think maybe on the camera the free kick was more dangerous, but for me it was the ball after the situation because the ball was going to the left [across the goal]. To be honest I have to catch that free kick.
Midfielder Osvaldo Alonso
On defending Dwayne De Rosario: It was a tough game. DeRo [Dwayne De Rosario] is a good player and getting one point is not bad.
On March Burch's near goal in the waning moments: We had a chance. [Marc] Burch headed it to the post, but it didn't go in. So, now we focus on the next day. Taking one point is not bad and now we'll focus on Colorado.
D.C. United Head Coach Ben Olsen
On the draw: I don't think offensively either team was at their best. It was a pretty physical battle. I think [Seattle] came here with the thought of getting numbers behind the ball and having a real blue-collar day. You have to be pretty good with the ball, be confident, move and be clicking, and in the first half, we really weren't. But the fight was there, and spirit was there. In the second half, I thought we turned it up a little bit. We started moving the ball a little better, being more confident with our passing. I thought we could have snuck the win. It was one of those games where if we're a little sharper in the final third, I think we come out of here with three [points]. They're a good team. They're a real team - to keep them to zero goals is definitely a credit to the back four, I thought they came in and did a good job. [Emiliano] Dudar in particular had a good day, and Robbie [Russell] and [Daniel] Woolard hung in there. That's a positive.
On Dejan Jakovic: Dejan's had quite a few games in this League, and we expect him to be able to come in and do the job. I thought he did a great job, in particular, on [Fredy] Montero, at times. Montero's a real player in this League, and he is a handful. I thought we did a pretty good job on him overall.
On coming off a 4-1 win against Dallas FC into a draw: I think Seattle right now is a better team than Dallas. I will say that. I thought they were pretty charged up physically, they were ready to go. They're coming off a loss, and I think they came in here with a real defensive mentality that they were going to make it tough for us to play - and they did that, but we still had chances. Again, if we're a little bit cleaner - maybe we weren't in sync as much, combining up top in the final third as we were a week before. I think right now they're a better team than Dallas.
On Chris Pontius and the other substitutes: He brought us a little soccer, as well as some energy. Branko [Boskovic], I thought did a good job as well coming on and slowing the game down and making sure we are passing, and possession was better. I wanted to get one more in, but Robbie [Russell] came out with a little bit of an [injured] ankle. [Chris] Korb came in and did a good job. He got forward there late a couple of times. Nick DeLeon, in particular was pretty damn good again.
On losing a substitution: Obviously I wanted to throw on a forward, in particular. Maybe [Josh] Wolff for Maicon [Santos], who was obviously struggling [with muscle cramps]. It hampered us a little bit, but there's not much you can do. You throw [Chris] Korb in, and again, I thought he did just fine.
D.C. United Defender Daniel Woolard
On the team's defensive performance: For the most part, we played well. We limited their chances; they had that one at the end, a couple in the first half, some long distances shots, but, for the most part, I think we did our job.
On keeping a shutout: Seattle is a great team, and to put up a shutout is nice. [The draw] is not the best outcome; of course we would've loved to win the game, but I think it was a good performance and a step in the right direction.
On the draw: It's disappointing when we don't win. That's the goal every week, finding ways to attack and defend teams. The point is always to go out and get three points, especially at home.
On the team's improvement: I think it's a matter of everyone knowing their role when they are on the field. The coaching staff is really good with putting together a game plan and we are all on the same page now. We weren't quite there the first couple of games of the season, but now we are understanding each other and playing as a team defensively and offensively. It's all coming together.
D.C. United Goalkeeper Joe Willis
On Seattle's last play: We got pretty lucky. I should've pushed it out a little wider but it fell right to [Seattle's] player and I was lucky that the post was there to help me out.
On keeping a clean sheet: I think the back four played really well. I think [Daniel] Woolard was good with [Roger] Levesque on the long balls. I think Emiliano [Dudar] and Dejan [Jakovic] did pretty well by shutting down [Seattle's] two forwards up top. I think our back four frustrated them, and I think it showed.
On neutralizing Fredy Montero: Fredy didn't have many looks today because Dejan [Jakovic] is a great defender; he was able to shut him down. One of the things Fredy likes to do is get the ball deep and turn with it, but we only let him do it once or twice and it didn't come to anything.
D.C. United Midfielder Nick DeLeon
Overall thoughts on the match: It was just one of those games where it was run-and-gun, and by the time you saw it late in the second half it was wide open because everyone was so tired from it. It was constantly going, just a different style of game.
On Seattle closing down the wings: Their outside backs were staying high on us - me and Danny [Cruz] - but that shouldn't have anything to do with [the final result] because we are a good enough team to play through the middle. Like I said, it was one of those games where it was run-and-gun, it wasn't possession-style. There were some tired legs out there.
On Seattle's last chance hitting the crossbar: Thank God it didn't go in. That would've been tragic.