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In a long season, good teams figure out how to win even when things aren't going their way. That's probably the best way to look at the Seattle Sounders' 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo on Saturday. Despite having all their stars available for selection for the first time all season, the Sounders turned in a disjointed performance and were forced to close it out while playing down a man for 34 minutes. But they had an ace up their sleeve by the name of Obafemi Martins. Here are the numbers that best told the tale:
0: Lamar Neagle always puts in an honest performance, willingly tracking back and willing to take defenders on one-on-one. But he's yet to take a single shot all year. That's hardly ideal, especially considering he's the only attacking player to start all four matches. Although it should be said he probably deserves quite a bit of credit on the Sounders' goal against the Dynamo.
3: Four games into the season, the Sounders already have a trio of shutouts. A year ago, they didn't get their third shutout until the 12th match of the season.
5: Dylan Remick became the fifth player 23 or younger to appear for the Sounders this season. A year ago, they only had four players that young make an appearance.
6: Obafemi Martins scored his third goal of the young season, meaning he and Clint Dempsey have now scored all six of the Sounders' goals so far.
7: Dating back to last year's playoffs, the Sounders' last seven goals have all been scored by Martins and Dempsey. Brad Evans was the last "other" Sounder to score, bagging a goal 424 minutes ago.
9: The Sounders claimed all three points despite playing down a man for nearly 40 minutes, but that's actually par for the course. The last three matches in which they've seen a red card, the Sounders have claimed all nine points.
72: Osvaldo Alonso made his return to the pitch, logging 72 minutes in his first appearance since last November.
216: Over four games, the Sounders have only played 216 minutes 11-v-11. That's about 60 percent of the available minutes.