Sounders come back against Dynamo
Fredy Montero netted his 9th goal on the 2009 campaign (photo by Seattle Times)
Seattle came back for the first time to win a match after being down 1-0.
The Sounders got their goals from Fredy Montero in the 31st minute and Patrick Ianni in the 46th.
From Sounders FC…
Seattle Sounders FC 2, Houston Dynamo 1
SEATTLE— Patrick Ianni’s goal in the opening minute of the second half gave the Seattle Sounders FC its first comeback win, 2-1, over the Houston Dynamo before a capacity crowd of 32,404 on Saturday on Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field.
Fredy Montero also scored for the Sounders FC (7-3-7, 28 points), which pulled within three points of the league leading Dynamo (9-4-4, 31 points).
Ianni, a central defender, put Sounders FC ahead in the opening minute of the second half, scoring from 4 yards on an overhead kick. A corner kick by Freddie Ljungberg was headed on by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado to Ianni, standing at the right post.
It was Ianni’s second career goal and the first in two years. Seattle had been 0-3-4 when allowing the first goal. Houston’s Brad Davis struck in the 12th minute to give the visitors an early advantage.
Montero equalized in the 31st minute with his ninth goal of the season. Off a counterattack, he ran onto Nate Jaqua’s right-wing cross and on his second touch, chipped over Onstad. Mike Chabala, trailing the play, was judged to have cleared the ball just after it crossed the goal line.
Montero has scored in each of the last five MLS games.
A weak Sounders FC clearance led to the game’s opening goal. Davis fired past Kasey Keller from 16 yards after taking a square ball from Brian Mullan in the 12th minute. The Dynamo was unbeaten (9-0-2) in 11 games this year when scoring first.
Seattle was without head coach Sigi Schmid, who was in California attending the marriage of his son, Kurt Schmid. Brian Schmetzer, the top assistant on the staff, served as his replacement.
Seattle and Houston will meet again in 11 days in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal match on July 21 at Starfire Sports Stadium.
The Sounders FC takes a break from league play next week, hosting England’s Chelsea FC in a friendly on Saturday. Kickoff is 12 noon.
Houston Dynamo (9-4-4) vs. Seattle Sounders FC (7-3-7)
July 11, 2009 — Qwest Field
Goals by Period
1
2
Tot
Houston Dynamo
1
0
1
Seattle Sounders FC
1
1
2
Scoring Summary:
HOU — Brad Davis 3 (Brian Mullan 3, Dominic Oduro 2) 12
SEA — Fredy Montero 9 (Nate Jaqua 6, Stephen King 1) 31
SEA — Patrick Ianni 1 (Jhon Kennedy Hurtado 1, Freddie Ljungberg 5) 46
Houston Dynamo — Pat Onstad, Richard Mulrooney, Julius James, Craig Waibel, Mike Chabala (Erik Ustruck 60), Brian Mullan (Danny Cruz 54), Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis, Corey Ashe, Dominic Oduro (Ade Akinbiyi 62), Kei Kamara.
Substitutes Not Used: Wade Barrett, Tally Hall, John Michael Hayden, Cam Weaver.
TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Brad Davis 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Brad Davis 2); FOULS: 11 (Kei Kamara 5); OFFSIDES: 1 (Dominic Oduro 1); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Brad Davis 3); SAVES: 4 (Pat Onstad 4)
Seattle Sounders FC — Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl, Freddie Ljungberg (Roger Levesque 89), Stephen King, Peter Vagenas, Steve Zakuani (Sebastien Le Toux 56), Nate Jaqua, Fredy Montero.
Substitutes Not Used: Osvaldo Alonso, Terry Boss, Sanna Nyassi, Nathan Sturgis, Lamar Neagle.
TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Fredy Montero 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Fredy Montero 3); FOULS: 14 (Peter Vagenas 4); OFFSIDES: 3 (Nate Jaqua 2); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Freddie Ljungberg 5); SAVES: 2 (Kasey Keller 2)
Misconduct Summary:
SEA — Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution; Tactical Foul) 43
SEA — Peter Vagenas (caution; Dissent) 64
SEA — Tyson Wahl (caution; Tactical Foul) 66
HOU — Craig Waibel (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 71
HOU — Kei Kamara (caution; Reckless Tackle) 90
Referee: Mark Geiger
Referee’s Assistants: -Corey Rockwell; Emiliano Monje
4th Official: Landis Wiley
Attendance: 32,404
Time of Game: 1:53
Weather: Sunny-and-80-degrees
All Statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial
Seattle Sounders FC Postgame Quotes
Coach Brian Schmetzer
(On Fredy Montero and Nate Jaqua up front) “I told Fredy (Montero) three weeks ago that he has to be, and I demanded this from him, he has to be Nate Jaqua’s best friend. I wanted them to play together. I think in the first half Montero was a little too far away from Nate at times. We talked about that at halftime and the second we did a little better.”
(On Patrick Ianni’s bicycle kick) “If you would have told me at the beginning of the game that we would have won the game on a bicycle kick, and I had to pick one of my players that was going to score the bicycle kick, I think (Patrick) Ianni would have been number nine.”
(On the emotions of being head coach) “Relatively calm because I think we had done all the preparation, that’s one thing I learned Sigi (Schmid) is to prepare for all the games. I felt I was very prepared before the game so before the game it wasn’t too bad. After they were up 1-0, there was a little anxiety, a little bit of ‘what are we gonna do?’ I didn’t want to panic either; I wanted to keep a cool head…it turned out to be a good day.”
(On his coaching style) “My style is to get all the emotions out early, so I was a little upset about giving up the goal and how we gave up the goal. I didn’t think we defended it as a group or as a team very well. There were too many guys watching one of our players defending and not trying to help that guy defend…we talked a little about tactics and how we were gonna try and play a little differently, stay composed , keep a little more possession because the field was hot. It was hot out there and the ball never gets tired so we wanted to make sure we used long possessions to wear them down and create opportunities for us.”
Forward Fredy Montero
(On the goal) “That was a good play. We had time for Nate (Jaqua) to control the ball, I had time to indicate where I wanted it…he found the spot, he found the place. I had to chest it down, then it didn’t go down so I had to touch it again, and then everything was very quick. When it was in, I just went to celebrate.”
(On his reaction after the goal) “I had diagonal position, everything happened very quick. My first reaction was just to raise my arm and celebrate.”
Goalkeeper Kasey Keller
(On fill-in coach Brian Schmetzer) “We knew Brian would handle this with ease, he has so much experience, and the guys responded really well.”
(On opposing goalie Pat Onstad’s highlight save) “It was a great save from Pat. Sometimes you just run across the goal and hope the ball comes where you can get it…I was telling him before the game I was just happy because it’ s the first time I’ve played with someone older than me on the field.”
Defender Patrick Ianni
(On the game) “It was a good game for us. We needed to run with these guys and everyone worked really hard tonight. I’m happy the game gave me a chance and I was able to put it away.”
(On if he’d ever scored a bicycle kick) “Since I was six, no.”
