It would be hard for the Seattle Sounders to draw up a victory that looked much better than Sunday's 3-1 takedown of New York City FC. Sure, the home side dominated possession in the first half and were able to fire off a bunch of shots, but they were most from distance and the match never really seemed to be outside the Sounders' control.
Meanwhile, the Sounders were happy to spring the counter-attack when it suited them and were absolutely lethal with their chances. Two more Obafemi Martins goals -- he's now leading MLS with six -- and another from Clint Dempsey, who now has five, and the Sounders were well on their way to their fifth win in eight matches.
Note: Apologies about the lack of quotes here, we were limited by what New York City FC sent out.
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MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 3 - New York City FC 1
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Venue: Yankee Stadium
Referee: Silviu Petrescu
Assistants: Daniel Belleau, Richard Gamache
Fourth Official: Alex Chilowicz
Attendance: 25,384
Weather: Partly cloudy and 68 degrees
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA - Obafemi Martins (Marco Pappa) 23'
NYC - Mehdi Ballouchy (Patrick Mullins) 54'
SEA - Clint Dempsey (Marco Pappa, Obafemi Martins) 58'
SEA - Obafemi Martins (Clint Dempsey) 66'
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
NYC - Kwame Watson-Siriboe (caution) 28'
SEA - Marco Pappa (caution) 39'
SEA - Tyrone Mears (caution) 44'
NYC - Mix Diskerud (caution) 50'
SEA - Obafemi Martins (caution) 79'
NYC - Kwadwo Poku (caution) 85'
NYC - Kwame Watson-Siriboe (ejection) 88'
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Brad Evans - C, Chad Marshall, Dylan Remick; Andy Rose, Osvaldo Alonso, Gonzalo Pineda (Cristian Roldan 90') Marco Pappa (Lamar Neagle 67'); Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins
Substitutes not used: Troy Perkins, Leo Gonzalez, Zach Scott, Micheal Azira, Chad Barrett
Total shots: 11 (Dempsey/Pappa, 3)
Shots on goal: 7 (3 players tied at 2)
Fouls: 13 (4 players tied at 2)
Offside: 2 (Martins, 2)
Corner-kicks: 4 (Pineda, 2)
Saves: 8 (Frei, 8)
New York City FC - Josh Saunders; Chris Wingert, Jeb Brovsky, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Shay Facey (RJ Allen 70'); Khiry Shelton, Mehdi Ballouchy (David Villa 54'), Mix Diskerud, Ned Grabavoy - C, Pablo Alvarez; Patrick Mullins (Kwadwo Poku 69')
Substitutes not used: Ryan Meara, Josh Williams, Sebastian Velasquez, Thomas McNamara
Total shots: 20 (Villa, 5)
Shots on goal: 9 (Villa, 3)
Fouls: 15 (Diskerud/Watson-Siriboe, 4)
Offside: 1 (Grabavoy, 1)
Corner-kicks: 10 (Ballouchy, 8)
Saves: 4 (Saunders, 4)
POST GAME QUOTES:
Seattle Sounders Head Coach Sigi Schmid
On Obafemi Martins' performance...
"He is playing extremely well. He's going into his third year with us, so now our guys have a better understanding of when he's going to show and go. He was dangerous [tonight]. He almost had another [goal]. The understanding between him and Dempsey and between him and the rest of the team is getting better and better all of the time."
On the Sounders recent play...
"We're getting better and the players have been stepping up. I think that Stefan Frei has been great in net for us. Evans has been fantastic at center-back. It's not just the returning guys that we expect to do well, but it's also been the young guys that have been big."
On playing at Yankee Stadium...
"It takes you awhile to get used to it. It's not so much the size of the field, but when it's a baseball field, you almost don't think that the 18-yard line is parallel to the sideline. I know way back when I was coaching college, we played on a baseball field and I thought to myself, ‘Wait, we've got a problem here.' But you adjust after awhile."
Seattle Sounders Captain Clint Dempsey
On playing with Obafemi Martins...
"We play well together and we rely on each other to create chances. The more that we connect on passes and get chances to score goals, the more it's going to help us throughout the season. That's what we try to focus on and I think the more chances that we get in a game, the more we can combine to make good things happen."
On the Sounders season outlook...
"We finally have everybody healthy and I think that the competition pushes us to be better. It pushes us each week in training. We have good depth on this team which you're going to need over the course of the season because we know that guys will get called away for national team duty. It's good that we're getting points because it's better if you get them as soon as you can. Being near the top of the table is always good because it keeps you confident and gives you a cushion between you and everyone else."
On playing in Yankee Stadium...
"We knew that it was going to be tight and that's what we prepared for. We were able to keep the intensity up for the full 90 and eventually we were able to create space because guys get tired and get pulled out of position. If you give some of our players time, especially Obi, they make it count."