[MLS REWIND: Week 29] Who needs Clint Dempsey andEddie Johnson when you have Obafemi Martins and Lamar Neagle? With Dempsey andJohnson sitting out for much of the game, Martins and Neagle scored in the first half to give the Seattle Sounders a 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake before 55,107 fans at CenturyLink Field. The victorywas the Sounders’ fifth in a row and moved them into the lead in the Western Conference by a point over RSL with two games in hand.
Martins scored in his third straight game to give theSounders the lead after only three minutes. Martins and Neagle lead the Sounders with eight goals.
Dempsey and Johnson, who started in Tuesday’s U.S. World Cup against Mexico, came on inthe second. Kyle Beckerman, who also started in the 2-0 win over Mexico, started and was one of six RSL players to be carded. Alvaro Saborio did not dress for RSL due to a left calf injury he suffered playing for Costa Rica against the USA.
Seattle took just two points from its first five games andwas still outside the playoff zone as recently as a month ago, but it has won five in a row and seven of its last eight games to take the lead for the Supporters’ Shield.
Seattle coachSigi Schmid said the breaks were starting to even out:
“I always believe and the guys in the locker room alwaysbelieve that sometimes things bounce your way and sometimes they don’t. Those bounces have started to even up a little bit, but the guys continue to work hard. The commitment to defending is somethingwe had already talked about a couple times after the game and got another shutout today. You never know what other teams are going to do, how many points they are going to accumulate, so all we cancontrol is the points we can accumulate. We got to get those games in hand, we got to win those points, and we got to continue to win at home. Maybe our away record isn’t as good as it was last year,but certainly our home record is making up for it.”
MLS RESULTS, Week 29:
Friday, September13
Seattle 2 Real Salt Lake 0.
SEA: Obafemi Martins (Andy Rose) 3
SEA: Lamar Neagle (DeAndreYedlin, Obafemi Martins) 38
Att.: 55,107.
Wednesday, September 11
Toronto FC 1 Chicago 1.
CHI: Dilly Duka (Chris Rolfe) 20
TFC: Robert Earnshaw (Bobby Convey) 23
Att.: 15,217.
MLS SCHEDULE, Week 29:
2 pm ET
Montreal vs. Columbus
4 pm ET
D.C. United vs. LA Galaxy, UniMas
7 pm ET
New York vs. Toronto FC
7:30 pm ET
Philadelphia vs.Houston
8:30 pm ET
Chicago vs. New England
9 pm ET
Colorado vs. FC Dallas
San Jose vs. Vancouver
Chivas USA vs. Portland
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MLSSTANDINGS:
Eastern Conference:
PTS (GP) TEAM W-L-T +/-
45 (26) Montreal 13-7-6 45/37
45 (28) New York 13-9-6 44/36
45 (28) Sporting KC 13-9-6 41/27
39 (28)Philadelphia 10-9-9 37/38
37 (27) New England 10-10-7 37/29
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37 (27) Houston 10-10-7 31/35
36 (27)Chicago 10-11-6 33/38
32 (28) Columbus 9-14-5 31/38
23 (28) Toronto FC 4-13-11 24/40
14 (27) D.C. United 3-19-5 16/44
WesternConference:
PTS (GP) TEAM W-L-T +/-
49 (27) Seattle 15-8-4 37/27
48 (29) Real Salt Lake 14-9-6 52/37
43 (27) LA Galaxy 13-10-443/33
42 (28) Colorado 11-8-9 35/29
42 (27) Portland 10-5-12 43/30
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40 (27) FC Dallas 10-7-10 39/39
37 (27) Vancouver 10-10-7 39/38
37 (28) San Jose 10-11-7 29/40
25 (28) Chivas USA 6-15-7 27/48
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MLS LEADING SCORERS:
G PLAYER (TEAM)
17Marco Di Vaio (Montreal)
15 Mike Magee (Los Angeles/Chicago)
14 Camilo (Vancouver)
12 Robbie Keane (Los Angeles)
10 Claudio Bieler (Sporting KC)
10 Diego Fagundez (NewEngland)
10 Alvaro Saborio (Real Salt Lake)
10 Blas Perez (FC Dallas)
10 Jack McInerney (Philadelphia)