Well that was somewhat similar to a soccer match. The Seattle Sounders traveled to Yankee Stadium just in time for a torrential downpour that made their 2-1 defeat to New York City FC more a game of lucky and unlucky bounces and sloshes than anything else. Two moments of great finishing from Cristian Roldan and David Villa should have been the only entries on the scoresheet, but the referee awarded a penalty kick on a Villa dive that provided NYC with the other goal in their victory.
To be fair, center referee Robert Sibiga had a tough task Saturday, where the line between ‘completely accidental’ and ‘reckless’ was very hard to draw, but he looked to be in a good position to make the right call there. Either way, Seattle did not do enough to overcome the resulting goal against, and return to the Pacific Northwest to dry off (no, ESPN, it doesn’t rain like a monsoon here) and prepare for a visit from Orlando City SC.
The Sounders are now 5-7-4, -5 GD. That’s good for 19 points through 16 games, or 1.19 PPG, and puts them at 8th in the Western Conference.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 1 - New York City FC 2
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Venue: Yankee Stadium
Referee: Robert Sibiga
Assistants: Jason White, Jose J. Da Silva
Fourth Official: Jorge Gonzalez
Attendance: 25,073
Weather: 69 degrees and rain
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA - Cristian Roldan 40'
NYC - David Villa (penalty) 52'
NYC - David Villa (Jack Harrison) 77'
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SEA - Gustav Svensson (caution) 28'
SEA - Cristian Roldan (caution) 29'
NYC - Rodney Wallace (caution) 35'
SEA - Osvaldo Alonso (caution) 48'
SEA - Chad Marshall (caution) 52'
NYC - Ethan White (caution) 80'
NYC - Sean Okoli (caution) 90'+4'
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Oniel Fisher (Henry Wingo 82'), Chad Marshall, Gustav Svensson, Joevin Jones (Nouhou Tolo 81'); Osvaldo Alonso - captain, Cristian Roldan, Harry Shipp (Will Bruin 67'), Clint Dempsey, Nicolás Lodeiro; Jordan Morris
Substitutes not used: Tyler Miller, Román Torres, Aaron Kovar, Seyi Adekoya
Total shots: 11 (Dempsey, 5)
Shots on goal: 2 (Fisher/Roldan, 1)
Fouls: 16 (Alonso, 4)
Offside: None
Corner-kicks: 1 (Lodeiro, 1)
Saves: 2 (Frei, 2)
New York City FC - Sean Johnson; RJ Allen, Ben Sweat (Ethan White 66'), Alexander Callens, Maxime Chanot; Alexander Ring, Yangel Herrera, Jack Harrison, Tommy McNamara (Sean Okoli 76'), Rodney Wallace, David Villa - captain (Frederic Brillant 90'+2')
Substitutes not used: Erik Johansen, Andrea Pirlo, Miguel Camargo, Mikey Lopez
Total shots: 21 (Villa, 7)
Shots on goal: 4 (Villa, 2)
Fouls: 22 (Ring, 5)
Offside: None
Corner-kicks: 6 (Villa, 6)
Saves: 1 (Johnson, 1)
SEATTLE SOUNDERS
BRIAN SCHMETZER – HEAD COACH
On adjusting to the weather
The players needed to figure it out which I think they did for the most part. The dribbling, the pass has to be crisper, stuff like that but it wasn’t the fields fault that we lost. It wasn’t the rain, why we lost.
On talking to the guys at the half being up one
We would try to dictate the tempo of the game, we would try and control some possession even on a sloppy field, and give nothing away and we gave one goal away.
On responding to PK call
They did okay…but you need to make sure that we block crosses, we mark their most dangerous guys, all that stuff is the little details that go forgotten in the heat of the moment. We just need to look at the film and help the guys be a little bit better.
On Cristian Roldan
He’s been great. He’s does a lot of the little things that sometimes you don’t see. Today people are going to say “That’s a great goal, he took it well, he intercepted the pass. Ran down the field” but he does a lot of other things. He covers spaces for other guys. He connects the first pass that gets out, to the next pass that leads to the break. He does a lot of little things. All the little dirty things that need to be done.
On PK changing the momentum
It gave them (NYCFC) life. Referees have a tough job. Sometimes they get it right, sometimes they get it wrong. But it did spark them a little bit, then they got the second goal, and then we were trying to catch one there at the end. I thought we were unfortunate there. Chad usually gets those on frame. Maybe 2-2 is a fair result or 1-1 is a fair result.
On improving for next game
We just need to keep teams off the board. We need to score. Tonight was a tough match. They worked hard. It was a sloppy field, it wasn’t easy to play so the mentality was there, we just need the soccer part to be a little better.
On national team players returning and helping with rhythm
In the first half, that one dead spot probably prevented Clint from getting a shot on goal. Then we had Harry in on goal, when Jordan played them in with the inside of his foot. Those are the types of quality plays that those guys bring, and we’re happy to have them.
CRISTIAN ROLDAN- MIDFIELDER
Describing his goal
There was a deflection and there was space to run behind with the ball and I think the defender committed over towards Clint and I was able to put the ball back in the net.
On his feelings at half-time with a one goal lead
Yeah it was a mix of feelings because we were up by one but we were not playing well, we gave up chances and we just felt like we could have played better. We opened up the second half not so well and then the pk obviously disappointing. It was a tough game because of the weather and both teams had to handle it, it wasn’t pretty.
On how the team responded after the PK
Yeah it was difficult and we felt like it didn’t go our way but we had to control what we could control by playing well and at times I felt like we could have been more dangerous especially in the first half and in the second half we didn’t have many chances going forward, we just needed to be a little bit sharper on the counter attack because they had a lot of possession today.
On his experience playing in such bad weather condition
One time at LA Galaxy, it went in our favor, pre-season and the field was pretty bad as well with a lot of puddles, luckily that game went in our favor, we did pretty well then.
On his opinion about his position
Yeah, I don’t think I go up as much this year mainly because we have many good players going forward, I don’t feel like I need to. My goal is a little bit more defensively, but if I am smarter and I take my chances, obviously you have to be clinical in front of the goal when you have the chance and that was the storyline of today.
On how to transition out of this game moving forward to Wednesday
We are able to take our flight and shift our focus. Obviously it is Orlando, it is a quality team and that’s why we are focused already. We are focused on what they bring to the table and we are playing home and that’s where we play extremely well.
OSVALDO ALONSO- MIDFIELDER- CAPTAIN
On the club’s performance today…
“No excuse, we have to play better. Now we focus on Orlando.”
On the penalty called in the second half that led to David Villa’s PK goal…
“When you have a call like that when we were winning 1-0, and then they called the PK so it’s tough. Like you say, the referee is human, everyone makes a mistake. We have to look forward now and focus on Orlando.”
On Cristian Roldan’s 40th minute goal today…
“Unbelievable. It shows every time he steps on the field. But now we have to figure out what happened today and focusing on Orlando, keep going.”
On the atmosphere of the locker room…
“The feeling is down every time you lose, you know. Because you don’t want to lose any time you play – you want to win. Go home with the win. But it’s past, we have to look forward and focus on Orlando, watch video and see how it can help us on the field and look ahead.”
On the next match against Orlando…
“We play at home. We have to set the tempo, get the three points. No matter what, we have to get the three points at home.”
On his 300th appearance for Seattle…
“I didn’t know. I think it’s a great achievement being here for so long, getting 300 appearances is a lot of games. I’m very disappointed for today’s game. I hoped we can win when I got my 300th, but I have to look forward now. Happy to get 300 but have to focus on Orlando.”
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NYCFC Head Coach Patrick Vieira