Seattle Breaks Sporting Kansas City’s 14-Game Unbeaten Streak in Stunning Fashion 2-1

 

Seattle’s Setup:

     Seattle set up in their usual 4-4-2. Scott got the start at left center back, only his second career start at center back and had an up and down match. Carrasco played in the center of midfield mostly in front of the heat-seeking missile Ossie Alonso, who played in his usual holding midfield spot. Montero and Levesque partnered up top, with neither player proving to be effective. Rosales and Fernandez played wide right and left. Fernandez made little impact on the match, while Rosales was the key cog in both of Seattle’s late goals that gave them three points.

Sporting Kansas City’s Setup:

     Sapong’s start at striker came as a surprise, considering how well Teal Bunbury had been playing. Kamara and Bravo patrolled the wings, with both making many diagonal runs inside behind the defense. The only impact Bravo had on the match was his red card, while Kamara played an exceptional match. Jefferson played behind Sapong, with Zusi playing in a right central midfield role and Diop playing the holding midfield role in place of the suspended Espinoza.

The match, tactically, could be broken down into two parts, before the Bravo red card and after.

Before the Bravo Red Card:

     The first 20 minutes was somewhat back and forth until a long Besler throw into the box that Kamara headed in gave SKC a 1-0 lead. Kamara beat Scott for the header, and coach Sigi Schmid, in his first half interview, was displeased with the official because he felt Kamara ran out of bounds and came back in, which would have nullified the goal. It was an extremely physical game that saw a number of fouls and some chippiness from both sides. Seattle struggled with their passing out of the back, and with SKC putting some pressure on, Seattle was unable to relieve it in order to advance the ball upfield. Levesque often dropped very deep to try and help but his passing was off and he was ineffective. Montero could not get into the game and showed little movement and aggression that eventually led to him being substituted off early in they second half. It was a very disappointing performance from him and one wonders if he was showing the effects of their midweek Champions League game.

     On the other hand SKC was showing excellent off ball movement, and started to take control of the game after the Kamara goal. They were trying to get the ball wide to play some balls into the box, mostly for Sapong and Kamara who had the advantage in the air against the Seattle center backs Scott and Parke. They continue to show that this formation works very well with their personnel, and Jefferson was making a real impact before he went off with an apparent muscle strain in the 39^th minute and was replace by Sassano.

     In the 55^th minute Seattle subbed Montero and Fernandez out for Noonan and Fucito.

After the Bravo Red Card:

     Bravo was sent off in the 59’ minute for a two-footed studs up challenge on Noonan. After the red card SKC moved Zusi wide left to replace Bravo, and kept Sassano and Diop in the middle as dual holding midfielders to protect the back four and their one to nothing lead. Schmid subbed on Neagle for Levesque and changed his shape. He moved Rosales into the middle of the midfield, behind Noonan and Fucito. He put Neagle wide to the right, and left Alonso as the holding midfielder. Carrasco stayed in the center between Rosales and Alonso. The left wing was wide open and the left back Wahl was able to push far up the field. Here is a diagram demonstrating the changes:

Now that SKC was down to 10 men Seattle was finally able to put pressure on them and possess the ball and create scoring chances. It seemed as the Seattle was too congested in the middle but with Rosales’ movement they were able to tie up the game in the 90^th minute. Rosales played a pass to Riley around midfield and then took off for goal. Riley played a pass down the right wing to Carrasco, who had run up the field to clear room for Rosales. Carrasco played a ball back to Rosales who avoided two SKC defenders who unwisely left their feet and put one off the post past Nielsen. It seemed as though it was some pretty lackadaisical defending from SKC at best. Then just two minutes later Rosales was at it again. In almost the exact same sequence he played it to Riley, blew past Diop who was man marking him, then this time Noonan played it back to Rosales who passed to his left to Fucito who was unable to get off a shot but the ball was deflected to Neagle who netted the game winning goal. It was an superb display from Seattle, and an incredible effort from Rosales who showed little effects of the Champions League Game midweek.

Conclusion:

     It was a blown game by SKC as they were the better team until Bravo’s foolish challenge that put them down a man. Despite that they still looked like a team riding a 14-0game unbeaten streak into the game, but we will have to wait and see what this game does to their psyche.

     Seattle’s Substitutions were no doubt the key components to their victory, and they showed what a true team is all about, picking up the starters when they are not at their best. Seattle needs more from Montero and Levesque however if they are going to challenge LA for the Supporters Shield. 

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