Seattle Sounders FC 2-1 Chicago Fire

by Dan Gaichas

 

SEATTLE, WA--The return of Freddie Ljungberg to Seattle and the return of John Thorrington to the starting lineup were both spoiled by a pair of goals by Fredy Montero as Seattle Sounders FC defeated the Fire, 2-1, before a sellout crowd of 36,386 at Qwest Field.

The Sounders are now unbeaten in their last seven league matches while the Fire are now five points out of the last playoff spot which currently belongs to San Jose (2-0 losers to New York). The Fire do have a match in hand on the Earthquakes.

John Thorrington returned to the lineup after missing the first 18 matches of 2010 with a quad strain. Collins John also made a surprise return to the lineup while both Brian McBride and Marco Pappa were unused substitutes.

It was Thorrington who got to open the scoring from the spot in the 28th minute after Sounders FC defender Jeff Parke was called for a handball in the box. Thorrington sent keeper Kasey Keller the wrong way on the spot kick to give the Fire the advantage.

“We discussed it during the week who maybe was taking it, and it wasn’t finalized,” said Thorrington. “They asked if I would take it, so it’s something I was comfortable doing, so I decided to take it.”

The lead would last only eight minutes as Tyson Wahl found an unmarked Fredy Montero who turned two defenders and beat Fire keeper Sean Johnson near post.

It was a physical match that saw five yellow cards, including one to Ljungberg which suspends him from next Saturday’s match against Los Angeles.

The Sounders dominated  the second half outshooting the Fire, 9-4, and were ultimately rewarded one minute into stoppage time as Montero got in behind the Fire defense once again and headed in a cross from Nathan Sturgis to claim the three points.

There were a mixture of cheers and boos when Ljungberg was named in the starting lineup, but was booed every time he touched the ball during the match. Prior to warmups, he embraced his former teammates and said that he would take a couple to them out to dinner.

“It was special to come back,” said Ljungberg. “I have a special relationship with people of the [city of Seattle]. The fans were amazing. Of course, I was booed during the game, but before and after the game they were cheering. It was a nice reception.

“About the game, it was devastating to lose the game. [We had] two marking misses and they scored two goals which we are extremely upset about in the locker room. That cannot happen, especially when we play so well for 90 minutes.”

Fire head coach Carlos de los Cobos cited an improvement in attitude in John as to why he started.

“I spoke with Collins and this is the attitude that we need to display,” said de los Cobos. “He participated frequently. He was a very important player for us and this is the way to follow.”

As for Pappa, he had a leg problem in training during the week as well as trying to re-insertion of Thorrington back into the starting lineup. Pappa is scheduled to play with Guatemala in a friendly next weekend as is El Salvadoran defender Deris Umanzor--also an unused substitute against Seattle.

The Fire return home to play Los Angeles next Saturday. Kickoff is at 3pm with the match to be televised on Comcast SportNet in English and TeleFutura in Spanish.

SCORING SUMMARY:

CHI-John Thorrington (penalty kick) 28

SEA-Fredy Montero (Wahl, Ianni) 36

SEA-Fredy Montero (Sturgis, Riley) 91+

BOOKING SUMMARY:

CHI-Steven Kinney (caution, reckless tackle) 22

SEA-Fredy Montero (caution, tactical foul) 24

SEA-Blaise Nkufo (caution, unsporting behavior) 43

CHI-Freddie Ljungberg (caution, reckless foul) 83

SEA-Nate Jaqua (caution, reckless foul) 90

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (4-4-2):  #18-Kasey Keller (C); #7-James Riley, #31-Jeff Parke, #4-Patrick Ianni, #5-Tyson Wahl; #23-Sanna Nyassi (#11-Steve Zakuani 61), #6-Osvaldo Alonso, #12-Nathan Sturgis, #15-Alvaro Fernandez (#24-Roger Levesque 94+); #17-Fredy Montero, #9-Blaise Nkufo (#21-Nate Jaqua 82)

Subs not used:  #28-Terry Boss, #14-Tyrone Marshall, #20-Zach Scott, #22-Mike Seamon

CHICAGO FIRE (4-4-2):  #25-Sean Johnson; #28-Steven Kinney, #2-CJ Brown (C), #31-Gonzalo Segares, #23-Krzysztof Krol; #14-Patrick Nyarko (#3-Calen Carr 85), #12-Logan Pause, #11-John Thorrington, #9-Baggio Husidic; #15-Collins John, #8-Freddie Ljungberg

Subs not used:  #40-Andrew Dykstra, #18-Mike Banner, #16-Marco Pappa, #20-Brian McBride, #13-Deris Umanzor, #4-Kwame Watson-Siriboe

TOTAL SHOTS:  SEA 12-9 CHI

SHOTS ON GOAL:  SEA 4-4 CHI

FOULS:  SEA 13-18 CHI

OFFSIDES:  SEA 2-3 CHI

CORNER KICKS:  SEA 6-3 CHI

SAVES:  SEA 3-2 CHI

Referee: Ramon Hernandez

Referee’s Assistants:  Corey Rockwell, Paul Scott

4th Official:  Landis Wiley

Weather:  Clear and 65º

Attendance:  36,386

Man of the Match:  Fredy Montero (SEA) with two goals.

Second Star:  John Thorrington (CHI) who returned with a goal of his own.

Third Star:  Nathan Sturgis (SEA) with strong midfield play.