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PORTLAND, Ore. — Perhaps more dispiriting than the result itself was the Seattle Sounders losing two of their most important players to injury in the first half. Cristian Roldan hurt his hip flexor when being taken down by goalkeeper Jeff Attinella in the 6th minute and Chad Marshall suffered a knee injury around the 36th minute.
“It’s not a ligament tear for Chad,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said. “He’s a tough kid. He’ll be back. Cristian had a right hip flexor on the penalty. That’s where it came from, but he’ll be fine too.”
Both players are due to receive MRIs on Monday after they return to Seattle, but it’s hard to envision a scenario where either are ready to start as soon as Thursday. The good news is that if the Sounders advance to the Western Conference finals, they’ll have 17 days between games to get ready.
Assuming he doesn’t play in Leg 2, that would mark the first time since Cristian became a starter that he’s missed a game due to injury.