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MLS Seattle Sounders FC

Sounders FC Battles to 3-2 Victory in Houston, as Race for the 2018 Audi MLS Cup Playoffs Heats Up

October 21, 2018 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Seattle Sounders FC News Release


Chad Marshall of Seattle Sounders FC scored the opening goal in his 400th career match on Sunday at Houston
Chad Marshall of Seattle Sounders FC scored the opening goal in his 400th career match on Sunday at Houston
(Seattle Sounders FC, Credit: Joe Buvid / Seattle Sounders FC)

HOUSTON, TEXAS - A scrappy performance from Seattle Sounders FC (17-11-5, 56 points) allowed for Brian Schmetzer's side to earn a second road win inside of five days, as the Rave Green defeated the Houston Dynamo (9-16-8, 35 points) by a final score of 3-2 at BBVA Compass Stadium in the penultimate weekend of regular season play. Chad Marshall scored the opening goal of the contest in his 400th all-time MLS regular-season appearance, becoming just the second field player in league history to accomplish this notable feat. Playmaker Nicolás Lodeiro - fresh off international play with the Uruguayan National Team - assisted on all three of Seattle's goals to break both the club's single-season and all-time records for assists. By recording three assists this afternoon (also tying a club record for a single match), Lodeiro's 15 helpers break the club's single-season mark of 13 held by Mauro Rosales (2011, 2012) and Obafemi Martins (2014). Additionally, his 35 career regular-season assists for Seattle now equal Seattle's all-time record of 34 held by Rosales and Fredy Montero.

Chad Marshall scored the opening goal in his 400th career match on Sunday at Houston (Joe Buvid / Seattle Sounders FC).

With today's result, Seattle has now won four matches in a row and 13 of its past 15 MLS games. Based on result elsewhere across Major League Soccer, the Rave Green remain in fourth position in the Western Conference, having clinched a 10th consecutive postseason berth on Wednesday in Orlando.

Making his return to the Seattle starting lineup following international duty with Uruguay, Lodeiro bagged his team-leading 13th assist of 2018 on Marshall's goal in the 26th minute. The big centerback made a fine run during a corner kick before heading the ball to Tyler Deric's far post and into the back of the net. Marshall's goal was the 29th strike in his 15-year career (including postseason play), marking the second strike he has scored for the Rave Green at BBVA Compass Stadium, including a stoppage-time equalizer in Houston to earn a point for the Rave Green in a 1-1 draw on April 10, 2016.

Lodeiro broke Sounders FC's single-season record with his 14th assist of the year in the 49th minute, this time finding fellow international Gustav Svensson, who was also back in the lineup today following his return from Sweden. The goal was Svensson's third of the year and fifth in all competitions since joining Sounders FC prior to the 2017 campaign. He previously scored in Houston in the first leg of last season's Western Conference Championship against the Dynamo on November 21, 2017. Like that goal, today's strike also came on a Lodeiro corner kick.

Houston pulled a goal back 14 minutes later through Kevin García, with teammate ?"scar Boniek García providing the assist - good for his 40th all-time Dynamo helper in all competitions.

Lodeiro then set the club's all-time mark with his 35th career MLS regular-season assist in the 87th minute, feeding forward Raúl Ruidíaz with a through-ball behind the Dynamo defense for the Peruvian's eighth tally in 13 matches since signing with the club this summer. With just 72 regular-season appearances for Seattle, Lodeiro breaks the assist mark in 14 fewer matches than Rosales (86) and 37 fewer than Montero (119).

The home side cut the lead to 3-2 two minutes later when Mauro Manotas got a touch on a Romell Quioto ball inside the area, redirecting a shot inside Stefan Frei's far post. Despite continual pressure by the Dynamo to the end, Seattle escaped BBVA Compass Stadium with three points.

Seattle closes out the regular season on Sunday, October 28 against the San Jose Earthquakes on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field in a Decision Day matchup (1:30 p.m. PT / JOEtv, YouTube TV, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM). Sounders FC is now 17-11-5 on the season, keeping the Rave Green in fourth position in the West, three points behind first-place Sporting Kansas City and one point shy of FC Dallas and Los Angeles FC. SKC's win over Dallas on Saturday eliminated Seattle from contention for the top seed in the Western Conference, but the second seed and a first-round bye are still possible should Seattle get three points vs. San Jose on Decision Day and both Dallas and LAFC fail to win.

MATCH NOTES

As was the case in Wednesday's match in Orlando, all Sounders FC players wore black armbands today in honor of Sounders FC Owner Paul Allen, who passed away earlier this week. The club issued a statement of support on Monday following the news.

Nicolás Lodeiro broke two club records and tied another today. By recording three assists this afternoon, Lodeiro tied the single-game record for assists, most recently set by Brad Evans on September 14, 2013 at Chivas USA. His 15 helpers on the year break the club's single-season record of 13 held by Mauro Rosales (2011, 2012) and Obafemi Martins (2014). Additionally, his 35 career regular-season assists for Seattle surpass the club's all-time record of 34 held by Rosales and Fredy Montero. With just 72 regular-season appearances for Seattle, Lodeiro breaks the assist mark in 14 fewer matches than Rosales (86) and 37 fewer than Montero (119).

Chad Marshall made his 400th career MLS regular-season appearance today in Houston. Today's outing was Marshall's 395th start in a career that spans back to his rookie season in 2004, in addition to 29 all-time MLS Cup Playoffs appearances. The centerback is among the greatest defenders in MLS history, having won three MLS Defender of the Year titles (2008, 2009, 2014), and he is once again on the ballot for the same honor this season. Thus far in 2018 Marshall has started 29 of the 29 games he's played, leading a defensive unit that is second in MLS in goals conceded.

Marshall's goal was the 26th regular season strike of his career, and 29th tally overall including postseason play. Today's strike was not the first goal Marshall has scored for the Rave Green at BBVA Compass Stadium. The defender previously scored a stoppage-time equalizer in Houston to earn a point for Seattle in a 1-1 draw on April 10, 2016.

Sounders FC is now 17-11-5 on the season, keeping the Rave Green in fourth position in the West, three points behind first-place Sporting Kansas City and one point shy of FC Dallas and Los Angeles FC. SKC's win over Dallas on Saturday eliminated Seattle from contention for the top seed in the Western Conference, but the second seed and a first-round bye are still possible should Seattle get three points vs. San Jose on Decision Day and both Dallas and LAFC fail to win.

Nicolás Lodeiro (Uruguay), Raúl Ruidíaz (Peru) and Gustav Svensson (Sweden) all returned to the starting lineup from international duty. Otherwise, today's lineup mirrored the October 17 first XI at Orlando, just with Víctor Rodríguez sliding back to his left-wing role. Lodeiro moves back into the attacking midfield position behind Ruidíaz.

Lodeiro recently returned to Sounders FC from Asia, where Uruguay faced both South Korea and Japan. Meanwhile, Svensson rejoins the club from Sweden for a UEFA Nations League match versus Russia and friendly against Slovakia. Ruidíaz made his first start for the club since playing against the United States Men's National Team last Tuesday in Connecticut for Peru. He was an unused substitute in Orlando on October 17.

Svensson's goal was his third of the year and fifth in all competitions since joining Sounders FC prior to the 2017 campaign. He previously scored in Houston in the first leg of last season's Western Conference Championship against the Dynamo on November 21, 2017. Like that goal, today's strike also came on a Lodeiro corner kick.

Ruidíaz's eventual match-winning strike marked his eighth goal of the season in just 13 matches since signing as a Designated Player during this summer's international transfer window. His eight goals are now tied with Lodeiro for the 2018 team lead, as Sounders FC improves to 11-2-0 when Ruidíaz appears.

With today's result, Seattle bags its first regular season win in Houston since joining MLS in 2009. Coming into today's match, Seattle was 0-4-4 in Houston all-time in regular season play, though Seattle did win the first leg of last season's Western Conference Championship against the Dynamo on November 21, 2017. That contests finished as a 2-0 victory for the Rave Green.

Dating back to the club's loss to Sacramento Republic FC in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on June 6, Sounders FC has accumulated a 15-4-3 record in MLS action. Seattle has now won 13 of its past 15 games in MLS play. MATCH SUMMARY

Seattle Sounders FC 3 - Houston Dynamo 2

Sunday, October 21, 2018

Venue: BBVA Compass Stadium

Referee: David Gantar

Assistants: Jeff Hosking, Felisha Mariscal

Fourth Official: Victor Rivas

VAR: Armando Villarreal

Attendance: 19,127

Weather: 68 degrees and clear

SCORING SUMMARY

SEA - Chad Marshall (Nicolás Lodeiro) 26'

SEA - Gustav Svensson (Nicolás Lodeiro) 49'

HOU - Kevin García (Oscar Boniek García) 63'

SEA - Raúl Ruidíaz (Nicolás Lodeiro) 87'

HOU - Mauro Manotas (Romell Quioto) 89'

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

SEA - Nouhou (caution) 72'

HOU - Oscar Boniek García (caution) 74'

LINEUPS & STATS

Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Kelvin Leerdam, Kim Kee-hee, Chad Marshall, Nouhou (Waylon Francis 82'); Gustav Svensson, Osvaldo Alonso - captain, Cristian Roldan, Nicolás Lodeiro (Alex Roldan 90'+2'), Víctor Rodríguez (Jordy Delem 88'); Raúl Ruidíaz

Substitutes not used: Bryan Meredith, Jordan McCrary, Handwalla Bwana, Will Bruin

Total shots: 15 (Ruidíaz, 5)

Shots on goal: 6 (Ruidíaz, 2)

Fouls: 12 (Nouhou, 4)

Offside: 3 (Three players, 1)

Corner-kicks: 5 (Lodeiro, 5)

Saves: 6 (Frei, 6)

Houston Dynamo - Tyler Deric; A.J. DeLaGarza, Alejandro Fuenmayor, Kevin García, DaMarcus Beasley; Eric Bird (Arturo Alvarez 86'), Oscar Boniek García, Alberth Elis, Tomas Martinez, Romell Quioto; Mauro Manotas

Substitutes not used: Joe Willis, Leonardo, Adam Lundqvist, Luis Gil, Memo Rodriguez, Ronaldo Pena

Total shots: 22 (Manotas, 5)

Shots on goal: 8 (Manotas, 3)

Fouls: 12 (Bird/B. Garcia, 3)

Offside: 0

Corner-kicks: 4 (B. Garcia, 3)

Saves: 3 (Deric, 3)

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Images from this story

Chad Marshall of Seattle Sounders FC scored the opening goal in his 400th career match on Sunday at Houston
Chad Marshall of Seattle Sounders FC scored the opening goal in his 400th career match on Sunday at Houston
(Joe Buvid / Seattle Sounders FC)		   



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