SEATTLE — Playing in stoppage time of their third game in nine days, the Seattle Sounders found the energy to combine on one final goal that upgraded a would-be draw to a win.
Forward Chad Barrett got his toe to a ball sent on goal by Clint Dempsey, guiding it into the net. That gave Seattle its first come-from-behind win of the season, 2-1 over the New York Red Bulls before 40,194 at CenturyLink Field.
It also was the Sounders’ sixth win in eight matches and moved them back atop the Major League Soccer standings, one point ahead of D.C. United and three ahead of Vancouver in the West.
“For our team to show the resiliency to battle back, to win it in injury time, just speaks a lot about the team’s character,” Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said. “Being able to put in the effort that they put in today, I was extremely proud of them.”
The Red Bulls (4-3-5) moved ahead in the 36th minute after one of those goals that might cause a team to think it’s just going to be one of those days.
New York was awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area after Seattle defender Brad Evans’ hand hit a ball being headed away by teammate Chad Marshall. Then the Sounders’ defense seemed unprepared for the free kick, which went weakly into the wall but bounced up to Lloyd Sam who knocked it in.
That marked an inglorious end to what had been an MLS-high 338-minute shutout streak for the Sounders.
“They had so many guys in front of me that I didn’t really see the ball that well,” goalkeeper Stefan Frei said. “So I just wanted to be sure I covered my side; and if he was going to beat the wall and go far side, that was going to take some skill. But we probably needed to follow up a little better. … Oh, well. We knew we were going to get scored on at some point.”
It was the first time the Sounders had conceded a goal since May 9 at Columbus, and their first home goal conceded since March 14 against San Jose.
Seattle drew even in the 69th minute, when Marco Pappa lost defender Chris Duvall on a swerving, patient dribble in the area and then fired past goalkeeper Luis Robles.
Pappa stayed in the game until the 89th minute when he left with ankle pain — and was replaced by Barrett.
About two minutes later, Dempsey got in front of the Red Bulls’ goal and fired on frame, and Barrett was there to shepherd it in.
“As a forward, I can tell when it’s going in and when it’s not,” Barrett said. “But there’s always that chance that it might hit the post, or someone might be on the other side of me that I’m not too sure of. So I just did it to make sure we got the three points. I knew I was onside, and it was going in anyway.”
When it did, Seattle (8-3-2) picked up points from the three-game homestand. Next, the Sounders will head out for a Saturday date at Sporting Kansas City before returning for home games against Dallas and San Jose.
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