Sounders top Fire 1-0, move into playoff position in West

Published 10:40 pm Wednesday, September 28, 2016

SEATTLE — Don’t look now, but the Seattle Sounders are in playoff position.

A season that often looked destined to end with the Sounders missing the postseason for the first time in franchise history suddenly finds itself shining brightly again after Seattle defeated the Chicago Fire 1-0 Wednesday night at CenturyLink Field, courtesy of Chad Marshall’s first-half goal.

The Sounders have made seven straight trips to the playoffs since entering MLS in 2009. But much of this season was spent languishing toward the bottom of the Western Conference standings, with the playoffs looking well beyond Seattle’s grasp. Poor results and inconsistent play led to Sigi Schmid, the only head coach in the team’s history, being fired in late July.

But ever since Schmid’s dismissal and the elevation of assistant Brian Schmetzer to head coach on an interim basis, the Sounders have been red hot. Wednesday’s victory made Seattle 6-1-3 with Schmetzer’s at the helm. The 21 points earned in those 10 games is one more than Seattle gained over its first 20 contests.

As a result Seattle (12-13-5) has climbed all the way back into playoff position. The Sounders began the night three points behind the archrival Portland Timbers for the sixth-and-final Western Conference berth. Wednesday’s victory drew the Sounders level with Portland, and Seattle holds the tiebreaker by virtue of having one more win. The Sounders also have a game in hand.

So with four games remaining in the regular season Seattle’s playoff hopes are not only alive, they’re beating loud and strong.

“I give (the players) all the credit,” Schmetzer said. “That is a committed group. From the day I took over they’ve given me everything.”

The victory came three days after an emotional 4-2 road victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy, meaning the Sounders had to overcome not just the Fire, but also fatigue.

“Were they as sharp as they could have been tonight? No,” Schmetzer admitted. “But I think that was to be expected. The game in L.A. was such a massive victory that they were a little flat. But they somehow found a way to win, and that’s what you like about teams that can win in the playoffs and do some good things in the playoffs.”

The only downside for Seattle came when midfield playmaker Nicolas Lodeiro received a yellow card in the second half, his fifth of the season, meaning the Uruguayan international will be suspended when the Sounders travel to Vancouver next Sunday.

Chicago, which has the worst record in MLS, dropped to 6-15-9.

After the teams spent the first 20 minutes of the game feeling one another out, the Sounders took the lead in the 24th minute in the simplest of manners. Seattle earned a corner kick on the right, which was taken by Andreas Ivanschitz. Marshall made a run to the near post, and the central defender’s glancing header sent the ball skipping across Chicago goalkeeper Sean Johnson and into the net to give the Sounders a 1-0 lead.

Seattle nearly clinched the game multiple times in the second half, but substitute Nelson Valdez was twice unable to finish when in scoring position and Loderio had a shot flash just wide from a tight angle.

There were some frantic moments for the Sounders in extra time, with goalkeeper Stefan Frei having to turn aside a shot from David Arshakyan, then Seattle having to clear the box during chaos from the resulting corner, but the Sounders held on to move into playoff position for the first time this season.

Spot kicks

Wednesday was Seattle’s first game since the announcement that star forward Clint Dempsey will not play again this season because of his irregular heartbeat. … Sounders defender Brad Evans (calf) and midfielder Erik Friberg (ankle) were both listed as questionable coming into the game. Friberg began the game on the bench and came on as a substitute in the second half, but Evans was left out of Seattle’s squad. … Chicago played without goaltender Matt Lampson, who is out with a toe injury. … Wednesday’s game saw a reunion between Seattle forward Jordan Morris and Chicago defender Brandon Vincent, who were teammates in college at Stanford, where they won the 2015 NCAA championship together.