There was a point in time when the world thought that the Seattle Sounders FC would dominate the San Jose Earthquakes. The first 18 seconds signaled a match where domination was to be expected. Unfortunately for Seattle fans the game lasted another 97 minutes and 42 seconds. Chris Wondolowski and cast outplayed Clint Dempsey over the entirety of the game, even though they were down a man.
Here is the raw data. It will not salve your wounds.
Highlights, Stats and Quotes provided by Sounders FC.
Seattle Sounders FC 2 - San Jose Earthquakes 3
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Venue: Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field
Referee: Baldomero Toledo
Assistants: Frank Anderson, Jeff Hosking
Fourth Official: Daniel Radford
Attendance: 39,175
Weather: Cloudy and 55 degrees
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA - Clint Dempsey 1'
SJ - Chris Wondolowski 13'
SJ - Chris Wondolowski 48'
SJ - Innocent Emghara (Adam Jahn) 70'
SEA - Obafemi Martins (Andy Rose, Gonzalo Pineda) 84'
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SJ- Victor Bernardez (ejection) 52'
SEA - Micheal Azira (caution) 57'
SJ - Innocent Emeghara (caution) 85'
SEA - Cristian Roldan (caution) 90+4'
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears (Cristian Roldan, 80'), Brad Evans-C, Chad Marshall, Leo Gonzalez; Lamar Neagle (Chad Barrett, 72'), Micheal Azira (Andy Rose, 67'), Gonzalo Pineda, Marco Pappa, Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins
Substitutes not used: Troy Perkins Aaron Kovar, Dylan Remick, Zach Scott
Total shots: 12 (Marco Pappa, 3)
Shots on goal: 9 (3 players tie at 2)
Fouls: 12 (5 tied at 1)
Offside: 0 (Micheal Azira, 4)
Corner-kicks: 10 (Marco Pappa, 6)
Saves: 1 (Stefan Frei, 1)
San Jose Earthquakes - David Bingham; Marvell Wynne, Victor Bernardez, Paulo Renato (Adam Jahn, 64'), Shaun Francis; JJ Koval, Fatai Alashe, Matias Perez Garcia (Ty Harden, 57'); Sanna Nyassi (Shea Salinas, 72'), Chris Wondolowski, Innocent Emeghara
Substitutes not used: Bryan Meredith, Leandro Barrera, Cordell Cato, Tommy Thompson
Total shots: 12 (Chris Wondolowski, 3)
Shots on goal: 4 (Chris Wondolowski, 2)
Fouls: 13 (Chris Wondolowski, 3)
Offside: 1 (Sanna Nyassi, 1)
Corner-kicks: 1 (Matias Perez Garcia, 1)
Saves: 7 (David Bingham, 7)
SOUNDERS FC TOP ASSISTANT COACH BRIAN SCHMETZER
On potentially substituting Brad Evans:
"It was going through our mind, but he is the captain of our team. He is an important part of the team, he's a tremendous soccer player and a tremendous human being; so I don't think - if I were second-guessing myself - we wouldn't have done the same thing, but it did cross my mind. You give veteran guys a little bit of leeway, and he is certainly a veteran guy and certainly the captain of our team."
On the early goal:
"Sometimes when you score that early goal it makes things difficult because the other team gets fired up and your team lets off the gas a little bit, but obviously it was a good start. If I had to ask do I want to score early or do I not, well I would I say I would take the goal. We just weren't able to hold on to that lead for a long enough time to change the game in our favor."
On the offense:
"[It was] hit and miss. I don't really think we had a ton of clean chances until the [Obafemi Martins] goal. I think after that everyone got a little more inspired. It's always hard to play a match when you go up a man, certainly down a goal and up a man made things even more difficult."
On Tyrone Mears' injury:
"I do not have a specific injury on Tyrone, but we definitely pulled him because of the injury, not for any tactical reason."
On Chris Wondolowski:
"He certainly is a great player - he showed you on that first goal - he was able to chest the ball down and smash it in. So he is certainly a really, really terrific MLS player. He showed his class tonight."
On Cristian Roldan:
"[He was] very good, very good - you saw what he does. He is a sturdy guy and he can shield the ball, he turns quick, he can play and move. Some of the balls he put in were decent crosses, so I was very pleased with him, very happy. He's got a bright future."
On managing the team:
"It's like driving a Ferrari - I should say Mercedes because I am German."
SOUNDERS FC MIDFIELDER GONZALO PINEDA
On the energy of Sounders FC in the opening minutes:
"It was ideal trying to put pressure on them, but after that we made a few mistakes. I think after the first goal you have to keep more possession and still get pressure on them but we didn't do that after the first goal, so those are the consequences."
On losing momentum after third goal:
"I think the third goal was at a bad moment. We tried to put pressure on them to go for the equalizing goal, but they scored first on us and that was unlucky. After that, we did a good job trying to keep going and trying to score a goal, and we did that, but it wasn't enough."
On keeping possession in the midfield:
"They did a good job reading our style and they put pressure on and it was a little bit harder than usual. They are a more defensive team than offensive, and I think they were trying to break our good moves with fouls and I think that's a problem because it can break your rhythm."
SOUNDERS FC DEFENDER TYRONE MEARS
On first impressions of Chris Wondolowski:
"You can tell he is an experienced player, but I think we caused ourselves a lot more problems rather than San Jose causing us problems. That wasn't just in defense but that was all over the pitch. We were second to the ball, which doesn't help. You have really got to win your battles first. We have so many players with great technical ability, but you have to win your battles and we didn't do that tonight."
On chemistry of defensive players
"I don't think you can just put it down on the defense. Obviously we conceded too many goals today, but I think from being one goal up then they get one back, we really crumbled which is unlike us. We have really dominant players and we should be finishing the games up."
On conceding third goal:
"We changed the formation. We went to three at the back with me and [Marco] Pappa on the wings because of them being a man down. We needed a goal back so we tried to go a little bit more attacking and that went against us. I think we battled until the end, and the game was really lost in the first half. When we go a goal up, we are all experienced enough to know how to win games, but being second to the ball and losing our battles all over the pitch, I don't think you can put it down to any individual players. The team performance wasn't good enough. We take that as a positive now because it is a wake-up call. We have to do better."
SOUNDERS FC MIDFIELDER CRISTIAN ROLDAN
On what to work on:
"First of all getting my first touch right, getting the pass completed and getting my confidence up on that. Then after that it's a matter of getting down the line as quick as I can as much as I can. I got put in a rightwing, rightback situation so I just needed to get down the line as much as I can."
On being able to worry only about getting a goal after coming in:
"You just come in and try to make an impact on the game. Obviously I wish Tyrone could have finished the game, but that opened up minutes for me and I just tried to make an impact."
On what Assistant Coach Brian Schmetzer said to him during game:
"We were kind of in a rush because Tyrone was hurt. He told me play-by-play where to be and just tried to motivate me to get up and down the field."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES HEAD COACH DOMINIC KINNEAR
On the match:
"I'm really happy for the guys. I thought it was a great performance by us. A lot of things were stacked against us tonight - goal in the first minute then a red card, but I thought we played particularly well. Scored some real good goals and took advantage of some mistakes. I'm really happy with the three points. It's a tough place to come and play and I thought we showed a lot of bravery tonight in winning the game."
On Chris Wondolowski's game:
"He was good. Two goals is what you want from your forward. And it was two different kinds of goals. He's a good finisher. He took his first one nice in the two-touch then took advantage of the mistake off the second one. The one good thing about Chris, that everyone knows, is he's very consistent hitting the target so lucky for us he got a couple tonight."
On goalie David Bingham's performance:
"He's a good goalkeeper. He's getting some games and getting more confidence. He saw action tonight. A couple times he came out and caught the ball for us and relieved the pressure. That's what you need sometimes when you're under pressure like that."
On evening the score not long after Seattle opened the scoring:
"That was good. It was a great response. I even thought the chance just before halftime gave us confidence when we came into the locker room. Obviously the red card was a bit of a setback, but the way we played with 10 men was a really good effort tonight."
On seeing an effort like this early in the season:
"It's good to see an effort like that no matter when. We needed it. If we didn't have that effort tonight, we're probably going to lose the game. They still created their chances, but we were able to do some last-ditch defending. David [Bingham] had a good game coming out and catching some crosses. I thought we broke well. It was good to relieve the pressure the way we did. We didn't lose the ball too much around midfield - we kind of lost it closer to their goal, which is important. It gives you a little bit more time to get organized and I thought our shape, for the most part, was pretty good. If we didn't have that effort and a couple guys took the night off, we would've been in big trouble."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD CHRIS WONDOLOWSKI
On having success against Seattle:
"You know, the fans are great here to be honest. I love it whether there's 40,000 fans screaming for you or against you. They create a great atmosphere. It makes it exciting to play and you know it's fun to play up here."
On the importance of scoring quickly after Seattle's first goal:
"Huge. You know, we had a game plan and I think we executed our game plan well. Believe me, the first minute was not part of the game plan, but you know I think we bounced back well from it. And you know it gives us a little bit more character and a little bit more belief."
On overcoming early adversity and hanging on later after the red card:
"Yeah I think it's a great team win. It's never easy to play up here. Seattle is a great team that possesses well and especially when they are a man up it makes it a lot more difficult. So we kind of had to dig a little deep and we dropped a little bit deeper than we liked, but I think it was huge to get that third goal right after we went down a man and that helped a lot."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES FORWARD INNOCENT EMEGHARA
On getting his first MLS start:
"Yeah for me it was very interesting. I just wanted to see how the league is in my first game. I think it is a great league with so many very good players, and I think today we did great."
On his goal:
"It was a very fine combination with Adam [Jahn]. A double pass, after I have to beat the defender, and after I beat him I know where to place the ball. It was very nice action and a great goal."
On getting his first MLS goal down a man:
"Yes for me I am very thankful and very happy...I scored and most importantly we won the game, even with the red card. It was a very, very hard game. I am very grateful we won."
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES MIDFIELDER SANNA NYASSI
On coming back to Seattle:
"It was great coming back to Seattle in front of 40,000 fans. It was a great feeling especially coming back home with all three points. I think they are a great team and we got prepared for them, and we stayed disciplined and stayed to our game plan and it worked out well."
On playing with 10 men for most of the second half:
"It was the toughest 15 minutes of the game [following the red card]. Going a man down was tough defensively, but we did a great job making it so we keep the ball in front of us and then staying compact."