The Seattle Sounders (4-4-3) did little to change their recent road woes against the LA Galaxy (6-4-2) Sunday night and their six-game unbeaten streak came to an unceremonious end in a 4-0 loss. The Home Depot Center continued to plague the Sounders, as they failed to avenge their defeat in the 2012 Western Conference Championship.This one was over by halftime.
LA struck quickly and often in what became Seattle’s most lopsided loss of the season.
Robbie Keane made the first 45 minutes his own scoring exhibition, netting a hat trick and an assist before halftime. The Galaxy scored in the 12th minute when a leaky Sounders defense allowed Keane to dribble undisturbed into the box. His cross hit LA’s Sean Franklin in stride and he punched it into the back of the net.
The second goal came when forward Landon Donovan’s high-arcing cross ricocheted off a Seattle defender and Keane was there to clean it up.
Moments later, officials incorrectly called Sounders defender Djimi Traore for a penalty in the Seattle box, a legal slide tackle that took down a flopping Gyasi Zardes. Keane missed the first penalty kick but officials called midfielder Mauro Rosales for encroachment. Keane didn’t miss a second time, and LA took a 3-0 advantage.
In the 44th minute, the Sounders capped an abysmal first half by committing another penalty in their own zone, this one a slide tackle from Brad Evans that drew a yellow card. Keane knocked in his second penalty kick to make it 4-0.
Seattle didn’t event attempt a corner kick until the 85th minute. The Galaxy outshot the Sounders 15-2 and controlled possession for 51 percent of the game.
In the 77th minute, former U.S. national team winger Robbie Rogers made American sports history in his Galaxy debut. Acquired last week from the Chicago Fire, Rogers, 26, became the first openly gay male athlete to play a professional team sport in the U.S.
The Sounders travel to Florida Wednesday for a U.S. Open Cup matchup against the NASL Tampa Bay Rowdies.
1 Comment
The penalties were lame, especially the first one. Getting two chances to kick? Give me a break. But overall the Sounders got manhandled. LA controlled this game all the way.