Final — Another disappointing result at home for Seattle, a 1-0 loser to San Jose. Lots of chances, none of them finished. Same old story. Sound off in the comments section. More to come.
89′: San Jose sub: Ring in for Corrales. Not much longer now. Any stoppage-time drama?
81′: Sounders are getting their chances, but the Earthquakes are holding strong. Time is running out…
76′: Seattle sub: Noonan in for Gonzalez. Forward for a defender.
72′: Montero earns a dangerous free kick from 25 some yards. Ljungberg curls it well, but it’s up and over.
69′: San Jose sub: Scott Sealy in for Ryan Johnson.
67′: Montero, Montano, Zakuani and Ljungberg all pressing well for the equalizer. The chances will be there, but will the finishing touch?
62′: Seattle sub: Montano in for Nyassi.
62′: Seattle looking for an equalizer. San Jose looking for its fourth-straight shutout.
57′: Wondolowski fires a beautiful shot just over the goal. Not sure Keller could have got to that one.
55′: San Jose sub: Beitashour in for Tacoma native Joey Gjertsen.
52′: Ljungberg earns another corner on a free kick, cleared by Burling, who is a beast in the air at 6-foot-5.
49′: Sturgis wins a Ljungberg corner, but can’t get it on goal. It’s out for another corner, and eventually cleared. Hurtado nearly connected on a Montero cross.
46′: And we’re off in the second half. No subs yet. Riley has a good cross early taken well by Cannon.
Halftime: I wouldn’t be surprised to see Noonan and Alonso in. Maybe for Nyassi and Sturgis.
Halftime: After one minute of stoppage time the score is San Jose 1, Seattle 0 at the break. Earthquakes dominated the first 15 minutes and probably deserved a goal. Seattle saw more of the ball the rest of the way, but couldn’t finish its chances.
43′: MISS! Zakuani plays a beautiful one-touch pass to Nyassi through on goal, but the Gambian fires wide. One minute later Zakuani shoots wide from the same spot.
35′: For my money, Marshall and Nyassi have been poor so far. Sturgis a bit invisible. Bad giveaways also from Riley, Hurtado and Ianni. Is this team missing Vagenas in the middle to settle things down with the ball?
32′: SO many bad touches and passes from Seattle.
28′: SAVE! Zakuani gets through on goal but Cannon comes out and blocks it well. Zakuani down, looks like the ricochet of Cannon’s save hit the Seattle winger in the face.
27′: Seattle has definitely settled down. But many of the guys in green are playing sub par.
23′: Ljungberg sets up Zakuani well. His shot is blocked out for another corner, results in a shot over the bar. Seattle definitely on the attack now.
21′: Great run by Ljungberg, lays it off in the box. Riley can’t connect cleanly. Out for a corner kick. Cleared.
16′: Seattle pays for its sluggish start. They can’t hold onto the ball and are making silly errors. Play needs to improve.
11′: Goal San Jose! Wondolowski on the back post.
10′: Seattle gets forward well. Ljungberg sets up Nyassi, who crosses into the middle for Montero, but the header is won by the defender.
7′: Here’s what the Quakes look like:
—————-Cannon——————–
Leitch–Burling–Hernandez–Corrales
———-McDonald—-Luiz—————
Gjertsen————————–Convey
———-Wondolowski–Johnson——–
4′: Sounders doing the majority of the defending in the early part of this one. I’m working on the S.J. formation.
1′: And we’re off!
——————-Keller——————
Riley–Hurtado–Marshall–Gonzalez
———-Sturgis—–Ianni————–
————–Ljungberg—————–
Nyassi—————————Zakuani
—————Montero——————-
Pregame: Seattle in its traditional green-blue-green combination at home. San Jose wearing an all-black ensemble.
Pregame: There’s a sign/banner in memory of Walt Daggatt at the north end. Also one hanging in front of the ECS: “Thank You Walt — R.I.P.”
Pregame: Be sure to check out the starting lineups below. I predicted a 2-0 Sounders win, who do you got?