SEATTLE — It took eight years, but the Seattle Sounders can finally mount an English head on their wall.
The Sounders earned their first ever victory over an English opponent when they defeated the Premier League’s West Ham United 3-0 Tuesday night in a friendly match at CenturyLink Field. [Photo gallery]
Seattle came into the contest 0-3-1 in games against English foes. But two second-half goals from Jordan Morris, added to a first-half penalty kick from Herculez Gomez, gave the Sounders a victory over the team — though depleted — that finished seventh in the Premier League table last season.
“You grow up watching this league, and they obviously had a very good season last year,” Morris said. “Of course, they’re just starting out their season, it would be tough to come off a vacation and play over here. But they’re a very good team, so to play them is awesome.”
West Ham was without most of it’s first-choice team, including star winger Dimitri Payet, who is currently starring for the French national team that is in the semifinals of the European Championships. The Hammers also fielded 21 different players in the match, West Ham’s first in preparation for a 2016-17 season that doesn’t begin until Aug. 13, and West Ham manager Slavan Bilic admitted after the game that his primary goal was for none of his players to get injured.
While that may have taken a little of the luster off Seattle’s accomplishment, the Sounders weren’t about to send it back.
“We’re realistic enough to understand that West Ham is at the beginning of their preseason, and that obviously a lot of their players are missing because they’re taking time off from national teams and things like that,” Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. “But by the same token, we rested a lot of guys and played a lot of young guys and it was a good experience for them. I think we scored good goals, and with the exception of maybe the first 10 minutes of each half when they really possessed the ball on us, I think we played equal and at times much better.”
West Ham spent the first half playing a languid pace that was a dead giveaway it was the team’s first foray onto the field in nearly two months. That allowed Seattle to fashion the better scoring chances, and the Sounders broke through in the 42nd minute.
When Seattle’s Aaron Kovar sent a dangerous through ball into the penalty box, West Ham goalkeeper Adrian took out Gomez going for the ball, and the Sounders were awarded a penalty kick. Gomez comfortably converted the PK past Adrian to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.
The second half was then the Morris show, as he came on as a substitute in the 62nd minute and scored twice within 10 minutes of being introduced.
The first was the result of great awareness. Zach Mathers sent a free kick goalward in the 70th minute, with Oalex Anderson flying through the air to get a foot on the ball. West Ham substitute goalkeeper Raphael Spiegel denied Anderson’s effort, but Morris reacted first to put in the rebound and make it 2-0.
The second was a product of Morris’ speed and finishing. Morris raced behind the West Ham defense to get on the end of Joevin Jones’ long ball, then adroitly finished into the far corner to put a cherry on top of Seattle’s triumph.
Quick kicks
The Sounders have one connection to West Ham among their players. Right back Tyrone Mears, who did not play Tuesday, appeared in six games for the Hammers during the 2006-07 season. … Seattle chose to give several of its top players the night off as the likes of forward Clint Dempsey, midfielder Osvaldo Alonso and defenders Chad Marshall and Brad Evans were not included in the matchday squad. … In addition to Payet, West Ham was without several others who participated in international competitions the past month. Those included defenders James Collins (Wales) and Angelo Ogbonna (Italy), midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate (Senegal), forward Enner Valencia (Ecuador) and goalkeeper Darren Randolph (Ireland). Also, forward Diafra Sakho didn’t make the trip to the U.S. because of illness, and midfielder Michail Antonio remained home to await the birth of his child.
For more on the Seattle sports scene, follow Nick Patterson on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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