Seattle Sounders FC played a frustrating 0-0 draw with the Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night at CenturyLink Field. Here’s three takeaways from the game:
1) No playoffs yet for the Sounders.
Seattle would have clinched a playoff spot with a victory over the Dynamo. That seemed a likely outcome, considering the Sounders came into the game the hottest team in the league, having gone 7-1-3 since Brian Schmetzer took over as interim head coach, and Houston is mired in last place in the MLS’s Western Conference.
But for all of Seattle’s domination in possession (61.1 percent to 38.4 percent, including 70.9-29.1 in the first half) and quality scoring chances, the Sounders couldn’t find the goal. Seattle even had the better opportunities after Osvaldo Alonso’s 64th-minute red card reduced the Sounders to 10 men, yet was never able to find the net.
But while the Sounders failed to secure a postseason berth, Seattle still remains in great shape. The point put the Sounders in a tie with Real Salt Lake for fourth place in the conference, with Seattle holding the tiebreaker by virtue of having one more win. Six teams make the playoffs from the conference, and the Sounders are now four points ahead of seventh-place Portland with just two games remaining. So it hasn’t happened yet, but Seattle is still set up to maintain its streak of reaching the playoffs in all eight seasons of franchise existence.
2) Discipline remains a problem.
Alonso’s dismissal came on a straight red card that was not a part of play.
In the 64th minute Alonso got tangled up with Houston striker Will Bruin away from the ball, with Bruin appearing to trip Alonso. Alonso took exception, and the two ended up in a heated confrontation, with Bruin grabbing Alonso’s jersey and Alonso getting his hands in Bruin’s face. Referee Drew Fischer had a lengthy conversation with his linesman, and after it was over he showed Bruin a yellow card and Alonso a red card.
This was the second straight game in which Seattle had a player shown a straight red because of a confrontation with an opposing player, as Brad Evans was sent off in Sunday’s 2-1 victory at Vancouver for a similar incident. Evans was suspended for this game, and now Alonso will be suspended for at one of Seattle’s final two games. These are moments of indiscipline the Sounders can’t afford late in the season.
3) Seattle’s offense didn’t click.
The Sounders had yet to get shut out since playmaker Nicolas Lodeiro joined the team in late July, a string of 11 games in which Seattle found the net 21 times. But it just wasn’t happening for the Sounders on Wednesday.
Seattle seemed like it was getting a break when both Lodeiro and leading goal scorer Jordan Morris were released early from international duty (Lodeiro by Uruguay, Morris by the U.S.), thus making them available for the game. However, Houston packed the midfield in an effort to prevent Lodeiro from being able to orchestrate things offensively, and Lodeiro was unable to have the same kind of impact on the game as he has since arriving.
It didn’t help that in-form winger Andreas Ivanshchitz limped off the field in the 10th minute because of a sprained right knee, and with star forward Clint Dempsey done for the season because of his irregular heartbeat, Seattle didn’t have the creative options available to unlock the Dynamo defense.
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