Job done in Spokane: Sounders move on in Concacaf

SPOKANE, Wash. – The Seattle Sounders won 2-1, earning a 5-1 aggregate victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps to advance to the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinals. Seattle carried a 3-0 advantage from the first leg into this one, and while a 24th minute goal for Vancouver from Jeevan Badwal provided some jeopardy, a pair of goals from Danny Musovski and Paul Rothrock in the 79th and 83rd put the series to bed.

Although Seattle created a couple of dangerous moments early in the first half, but they couldn’t convert them. The best chance belonged to Albert Rusnák who found himself on the end of a deflected ball from Paul Arriola within the first minute of the game, but his first-time effort flew just outside of the post. Snyder Brunell earned an attacking free kick in the 8th minute after an excellent dribble down the field eventually resulted in him being brought down on the wing, but nothing much came of it.

From there Vancouver started to get a hold of the game, and after a series of dangerous sequences that forced Stefan Frei into a couple of saves they found their foothold with an opening goal in the 24th minute from Jeevan Badwal. Down at the Whitecap’s end of the field Osaze De Rosario went down under some pressure expecting for a foul to be called, but the visitors came away with the ball and a pass later Thomas Muller was carrying the ball towards goal. He played the ball in to Brian White, and White spotted the run of Badwal and played it off for him. Badwal’s first-time shot was a peach and although Frei was able to get a touch to it he couldn’t keep it out of the top corner.

After the goal the Sounders were able to find a bit more of a rhythm and managed to get a few more shots off, but neither side really threatened as halftime approached.

The second half started not too dissimilarly from how much of the first half played out as both sides created chances but couldn’t finish them off. De Rosario had Seattle’s best early chance in the second half when he managed to fight off a pair of defenders as he ran onto a ball over the top in the 58th minute, but with both players pressuring him he launched his shot into the stands. Thomas Müller had a great opportunity in the 67th minute, but wasn’t able to put it away.

Then in the 79th minute the Sounders caught the Whitecaps with their attention lapsing on a throw-in deep in their half. Peter Kingston received the throw, twisted his way away from a pair of Whitecaps players and drove to the edge of the box before sending in a cross that was perfectly placed for Danny Musovski to jump onto and head home from the center of the 6-yard box as Yohei Takaoka scrambled to reach it. Suddenly the Sounders were back to a three-goal advantage and sensed an opportunity to increase that gap as Vancouver’s hill to climb turned back into a mountain.

Kingston got involved once again not even 5 minutes later. In the 73rd minute he ran onto a ball over the top with both Musovski and Paul Rothrock making threatening runs. The cross went just beyond the head of Musovski, but Rothrock was there running in at the back post to gather the ball and set up his shot just inside the post to make it 2-1 on the night for the Sounders and 5-1 on aggregate.

The Whitecaps had a flurry of shots in the game’s final minutes, and Nikola Petkovic nearly got a third goal for the Sounders but his shot in the first minute of stoppage after a nice pass from Musovski wasn’t enough to beat Takaoka. The 2-1 score and 5-1 aggregate stood when the final whistle was blown, meaning the Sounders will advance to the quarterfinals where they’ll meet the winner of Tigres UANL and FC Cincinnati. Cincinnati currently leads that tie 3-0, playing their road leg tomorrow.

First Seattle will have to turn their attention to Minnesota United and their match on Sunday, March 22.

Lineups

The Sounders run out the same starting XI for this leg as they did for the 3-0 win in the first leg, making for 8 changes from the lineup used against the San Jose Earthquakes.

Key moments

1 - Shot! Brunell with a simple pass to put the ball on Arriola’s feet approaching the box and Arriola sends in a low cross that is deflected into the path of Rusnák, but his first-time shot flashes just wide!

8 - Foul! Brunell taps and turns his way down the field and through defenders before he’s pulled down to earn an attacking free kick.

14 - Caught! Berhalter takes a free kick from just outside the elbow of the penalty area, but hits it right at Frei and the GK catches it easily.

16 - Yellow! Jackson goes down in the box, but the referee determines it was a dive and shows the winger a yellow card for his efforts.

23 - Save! A good sequence from Vancouver ends up with Muller on the ball at the edge of the box and he finds White for a header, but Frei dives and catches it.

24 - Goal, Vancouver. Badwal provides the finish from the top of the box after a layoff from White, and Frei gets a touch to it but can’t keep it out of the net. 0-1, Vancouver (3-1, Sounders on aggregate)

36 - Shot. Jackson does well to manufacture a shot from the edge of the box, but it’s once again easily caught by Frei.

38 - Sub. Andres Cubas has to leave the game, and Vancouver replaces him with Emmanuel Sabbi.

40 - Miss! De Rosario does well to end up behind the defense with the ball falling for him, but his shot from a tight angle goes wide.

HT - Sub. Vancouver takes off AZ Jackson, bringing on Kenji Cabrera to start the second half.

48 - Tip! Berhalter hits an in-swinging corner that forces Frei to jump and push it over the bar for another corner.

54 - Stop! Ragen is well positioned to block a low cross in, but the deflection goes right to Sabbi. Fortunately Sabbi’s touch sends the ball into the arms of Frei.

58 - Shot! De Rosario does a great job to win the ball and get into the box after battling with two defenders, but he smashes his shot over the goal.

65 - Subs. Paul Arriola, Jesus Ferreira and Osaze De Rosario come off for the Sounders as Peter Kingston, Danny Musovski and Paul Rothrock come on.

75 - Sub. Jeevan Badwal comes off, replaced by Oliver Larraz for the Whitecaps.

79 - GOAL! Musovski heads home a cross from Kingston! Kingston receives the ball from a throw-in, evades a couple players before putting his cross in the perfect spot for Musovski. 1-1 (4-1, Sounders on aggregate)

81 - Sub. Albert Rusnák exits the game as Nikola Petkovic comes on for the Sounders.

83 - GOAL! Rothrock does it again! Kingston once again sends in a cross from the right wing that misses Musovski, but Rothrock’s there at the back post to collect and put it home! 2-1, Sounders (5-1 on aggregate)

84 - Subs. Sebastian Berhalter and Brian White come off as Vancouver brings in Rayan Elloumi and J.C. Ngando.

90+1 - Shot! Petkovic nearly makes it 3 after Musovski plays him into the box with a clever ball, but Takaoka is able to make the save.

Quick thoughts

Patience and precision: Was it the most amusing or entertaining game of soccer that the Sounders have ever played? No, of course not. Even with a 3-0 lead going into a “home” match, this is still a high-stakes knockout competition, a meeting with a rival and one of the top teams on the continent, and Brian Schmetzer and his side weren’t going to take unnecessary chances. They were, as they so often have been, patient, willing to do the hard work to limit the Whitecaps to hopeful attempts as much as they could. To their credit, Vancouver did well to create genuine chances and then turned one of them into the opening goal. But the other side of the coin to Seattle’s game was a lethal precision when they created a pair of great chances during the second half. Musovski and Rothrock each had golden opportunities and made absolutely no mistake when it came to putting them away.

Earning a contract: Following the weekend’s game against San Jose Earthquakes Brian Schmetzer remarked that he’d be telling Craig Waibel that the Sounders should be signing Peter Kingston to a first team deal along with Antino Lopez. This was coming off of a very good start and 86 minutes in the center of midfield. Antino Lopez earned his contract and was announced this week, and Kingston will still have to wait but the wait may not be much longer after his two assist performance off of the bench tonight. Musovski and Rothrock both had to play their parts on the goals, but neither happens without Kingston’s skill and service. He had 15 touches in 24 minutes, completing 5/8 passes, but 2 of them were assists and both registered as “big chances” according to Fotmob. That’s not the whole job for anyone on the Sounders, though, and Kingston added to his assists with 2 tackles and going 3/3 on ground duels and 1/1 on aerial duels. When a contract comes is unknown at this point, but that it will come is a near certainty.

Home away from home: I’ve put “home” in quotes when referring to this game a number of times because it wasn’t played at Lumen Field or Starfire Stadium, where the players and staff would have been able to go through their usual game day routines. With the game in Spokane the team had to travel nearly 300 miles and play in an unfamiliar stadium on unfamiliar turf, getting ready in unfamiliar locker rooms. But there should be absolutely no doubt that it was a home atmosphere at One Spokane Stadium. The announced attendance of 5,126 was apparently a record for a soccer match in the city and the atmosphere came through on the broadcast. The Sounders fans from the Dry Side and those who traveled should all be proud of the display they put on.

Notable quote

Brian Schmetzer on playing in Spokane:

Player spotlight

Snyder Brunell – Man of the Match fairly belongs to Peter Kingston, but Snyder Brunell deserves his share of the spotlight. Going 1/5 on dribbles paints a woefully incomplete picture, as Brunell drew 5 fouls, several coming from those dribbles and earning dangerous free kicks. He got into and won more ground duels (9/16) than any other player in the game, and also won 2/3 aerial duels. He was stellar in the double pivot with Cristian Roldan.