With a strong but altered lineup and looking to continue a clean sheet and victory streak, the Seattle Sounders conceded first to Minnesota United FC and only claimed victory after a last-second penalty call from referee Ismail Elfath.
After picking up another three points, the Sounders are now 11-7-7, +7 on GD. They have 40 points through 25 played, or 1.6 PPG, which puts them in first place in the Western Conference, tied on points but ahead of Sporting Kansas City because Seattle has one more win on the season.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 2 - Minnesota United FC 1
Sunday, August 20, 2017
Venue: Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field
Referee: Ismail Elfath
Assistants: Ian Anderson, Eric Boria
Fourth Official: Daniel Radford
VAR: Drew Fischer
Attendance: 40,312
Weather: 72 degrees and sunny
SCORING SUMMARY
MIN - Ethan Finlay (Ibson) 21'
SEA - Chad Marshall (Nicolás Lodeiro) 31'
SEA - Clint Dempsey (penalty) 90'+4'
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
MIN - Abu Danladi (caution) 25'
MIN - Jermaine Taylor (caution) 90'+3'
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Kelvin Leerdam, Román Torres, Chad Marshall, Joevin Jones; Osvaldo Alonso - captain, Gustav Svensson (Will Bruin 65'), Nicolás Lodeiro, Clint Dempsey, Cristian Roldan; Jordan Morris (Nouhou 83')
Total shots: 21 (Dempsey, 7)
Shots on goal: 5 (Dempsey, 2)
Fouls: 6 (Alonso, 2)
Offside: 2 (Leerdam/Morris, 1)
Corner-kicks: 8 (Lodeiro, 7)
Saves: 0
Minnesota United FC - Bobby Shuttlesworth; Jerome Thiesson, Michael Boxall, Brent Kallman, Francisco Calvo - captain; Sam Cronin, Ibson (Collen Warner 90'), Ethan Finlay, Kevin Molino (Jermaine Taylor 77'), Sam Nicholson (Miguel Ibarra 82'); Abu Danladi
Total shots: 8 (Finlay/Danladi, 2)
Shots on goal: 1 (Finlay, 1)
Fouls: 20 (Danladi, 3)
Offside: 3 (Danladi, 2)
Corner-kicks: 4 (Nicholson, 4)
Saves: 3 (Shuttlesworth, 3)
SOUNDERS FC HEAD COACH BRIAN SCHMETZER
On why the team couldn’t score from open play:
“I wish I knew.