Despite a late surge, the Seattle Sounders opened 2017 with a 2-1 loss. The Houston Dynamo dominated the first half. Their posture in the final forty-five gave Seattle hope. Sounders have yet to win in Houston. Clint Dempsey scored his first goal since 21 Aug 2016, but it was a goal for honor not a result.
“That’s my first 90 minutes in a long time,” Clint Dempsey said postgame. “It felt good to be out there. We’re frustrated to not get points, just one point.”
Houston dominated the first half. Goal number one came off a deep free kick when Erick Torres placed his kick nearly perfectly. Stefan Frei guessed the wrong direction and could not recover in time to save the goal.
Romell Quioto put Houston up two to nil with a stunning shot from about 37 yards out. Roman Torres did not close quickly enough after an unfortunate giveaway. Quioto’s shot curled around Torres into the upper right corner. Stefan Frei had little chance to stop a shot that likely competes for goal of the week.
Bad news MLS - Clint Dempsey scored. Clint Dempsey is back.
Joevin Jones’ ability to get forward into the attack created opportunities in the second half. Seattle could not take advantage of the great play from their left back. Jordan Morris and Nicolas Lodeiro could not complete his passes.
Brian Schmetzer brought Will Bruin on for Alvaro Fernandez in the 76th minute with Morris sliding wide. Later Henry Wingo came on for Gustav Svensson in the final 5 minutes. For most of the last ten minutes Roman Torres played as a target forward. His ability to contribute outside of a target role was minimal.
The game ended when Torres skied a Wingo cross. They were both in perfect positions. Torres just cannot shoot during the run-of-play.