Obafemi Martins scored his second goal of the season in the 81st minute on a give-and-go with Clint Dempsey, lifting the Sounders to a 2-1 victory over Chivas USA at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, CA., Saturday night. Seattle extended its run to 10-0-4, including seven consecutive wins, against Chivas across all competitions since 2009.
The Sounders, who played with a man advantage following the ejection of Chivas USA midfielder Marco Delgado in the 73rd minute, concluded a three-game road trip 2-0-1 and with their second straight comeback win away from CenturyLink Field.
Erick Torres of Chivas scored on a penalty kick, his sixth goal of the season, tying Dempsey for the league lead, five minutes into the match to give the Goats a quick lead. But Lemar Neagle answered 20 minutes later as he cleaned up a Dempsey shot attempt after Chivas goalkeeper Dan Kennedy fumbled the ball inside the box.
Dempsey, who scored five goals in his two previous matches, assisted on both Seattle goals.
Chivas nearly equalized in the 87th minute, but Luke Moore’s shot was swatted away by Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
The Sounders (4-2-1) extended their unbeaten streak on the road to four matches.
The Sounders suffered a franchise-record 26 fouls, breaking by one the mark of 25 set twice this season. Chivas fouled Martins seven times.
The Sounders begin a three-game home stand April 26 when they face the Colorado Rapids.
1 Comment
Martins and Dempsey are really working well with one another right now. They seem to save their best for the latter part of the match. By season’ end they could be the leagues best striker tandem.