After a long climb up the Major League Soccer standings, the Seattle Sounders might have been in danger of a letdown after finally reaching the top.
However, their opponent tonight makes that unlikely: the two-time defending MLS Cup champion Los Angeles Galaxy.
“The Galaxy gets their attention,” Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. “We still have tough games left. We’ve got good games left: the Galaxy a couple of times, we’ve got New York still to go, we’ve got the Timbers still to go, we’ve got Vancouver, Dallas, Colorado.”
Every game remaining on the Sounders’ schedule sends them against teams playing for the Supporters Shield, a conference title or a playoff berth.
But there always has been something extra about the Seattle-L.A. rivalry, especially this season when the Sounders stand ready to challenge the Galaxy point for point and star for star.
“Are their competitive feelings between the two teams? Definitely,” Schmid said Friday. “Is there animosity between the two teams? No. I think there’s a lot of respect between the two teams.”
Since Seattle joined the league in 2009, Los Angeles has taken the regular-season series 5-3-2 and knocked the Sounders out of the playoffs in 2010 and 2012.
“They’ve got fast outside mids and fast outside backs that push forward,” midfielder Brad Evans said. “Juninho is not afraid to hit a 60-, 70-yard ball and push forward. It’s an experienced team, it’s a good team and one of the best in the league. So, it’s up to us to buckle down, play our game.”
In the first meeting this season, the Galaxy handed the Sounders their worst defeat of the year: a 4-0 pounding in Southern California.
“We just got off to a bad start in that game and didn’t play well in the first half at all,” Schmid said. “I thought our second half was better, but (the first) was just unacceptable. … We were a different team then we are now.”
Since that mauling at L.A., the Sounders have gone 11-4-1, including a league-high five-game winning streak they bring into this match.
That fifth straight win came last week against Real Salt Lake. It moved Seattle to the top of MLS, making the Sounders the third team in league history to overcome a 15-point deficit to climb alone to the top of the table.
“Again we find ourselves in another game where we can separate ourselves from the guys below us and put ourselves in a great position moving forward,” Evans said. “Momentum is key, but it’s about not getting complacent.”
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