Seattle Sounders FC faced Real Salt Lake at CenturyLink Field on November 2nd, 2012. The match was the first of two in a series to decide which team will advance in the MLS playoffs. Sadly, Seattle was not able to find the net, despite numerous attempts and close calls. The Sounders looked more composed and created more goal scoring chances, but came away with nothing to show. The game ended in a 0-0 draw with the concluding game to be played on the 8th in Salt Lake City. Seattle will need to come prepared as they have never won a playoff game on the road in the short history of the club.
The man of the match should undoubtedly go to the Salt Lake keeper, Nick Rimando. He singlehandedly kept a monsoon of shots and headers from slipping past him. At the half hour mark, Seattle blasted Rimando with shots and headers repeatedly; every one of them stopped by Rimando.
In the second half, Seattle put even more pressure on the Real Salt Lake defense. In the 50th minute Mauro Rosales had a great cross to a wide open Sammy Ochoa, who couldn’t keep the volley down and missed by inches. A minute later, Adam Johansson’s cross to Christian Tiffert almost found the net, but Rimando came out with another great save. In the 61th Osvaldo Alonso traps at the top of the Real eighteen yard line, set up and curled a shot to the far post, narrowly missing. Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, normally a defensive player, was hungry for goals. He could be found on the offensive side during most corners and breakaways. This new tendency to come up during attacking plays is a great strategy assuming he can get back on the counter-attack.
The rivalry and intensity between the two clubs reached a climax when Tiffert smashed into Rimando during a scoring opportunity. Rimando stayed down and received medical treatment for about eight minutes. Freddy Montero stayed about two yards away, taunting him the entire time. Rimando toughed it out and played the remainder of the match, continuing to make important saves. The crowd, unhappy with the wasted minutes, booed loudly whenever he touched the ball for the next half hour of play.
The game became more animalistic in the second half, as both teams realized the amount of leeway involved. Seattle took advantage of the relaxed refereeing a little more than RSL. After about ten minutes of stoppage time, the game ended in a draw. Following the final whistle, some shoving and bickering occurred between the two clubs. Highly entertaining to watch, but not the most sportsmanlike behavior.
