SEATTLE — The problem wasn’t so much that Seattle lost Thursday night — this was a preseason game, after all — it was how Sounders FC fell to Portland that was a bit troubling.
In losing 1-0 to Portland before a crowd of 18,606, Seattle failed to score for the second time in as many games against United Soccer League opponents. That’s 180 minutes of soccer, folks, against supposedly inferior talent, without one goal.
Sure Seattle dominated possession, and yeah, the Sounders had nine more shots than the Timbers, and five more on goal, but for a team that ended its 2009 campaign with back-to-back no-goal efforts in the playoffs, heading into 2010 on a cold streak is a bit troubling.
“That’s the biggest disappointment, even more than the defeat, is that we didn’t score a goal,” said midfielder Steve Zakuani, who had one of Seattle’s best chances, but failed to convert in the 15th minute. “Especially because we actually did play well today. We dominated the ball and had good chances. The ball was moving great, there were good combinations, we just couldn’t score. I had a chance in the first half, other guys had chances but we just didn’t put the ball in the goal and that’s the most disappointing thing. The defeat is one thing, but if we would’ve lost 2-1 or maybe 3-2 at least we’d know we scored.”
Saturday’s 0-0 tie in Vancouver and Thursday’s loss may be a bit concerning, however they are not cause for panic according to Sounders coach Sigi Schmid.
“This is two weeks before the season and hopefully we get all the bad luck out of us now,” Schmid said. “Often enough in preseason, what you do here is not a predictor of how you’re going to play in the regular season. Sometimes teams have great preseasons, you see that in all sports, and then when the season starts that all changes… . That’s always worrisome but also the last thing that comes together for you in preseason is the offensive side of things.
Instead of goals, the first half featured frustration on the offensive side of the ball for Seattle. Oftentimes it seemed like Zakuani, Freddie Ljungberg and Freddie Montero, three of the team’s top weapons, weren’t on the same page on runs. And even when the chances did materialize, nobody could finish.
Portland, on the other hand, capitalized on one if its few chances.
The Timbers hadn’t done much of anything in the first half when they suddenly stole the lead just before the whistle. On what looked like a fairly harmless attack at the end of the half, Tyrone Marshall misplayed a ball and accidently gave Portland midfielder Ryan Pore a one-on-one with Sounders keeper Kasey Keller. Pore played a cross to Gabriel Obatoli, who easily put it in the back of the net in the 44th minute.
Seattle pressured constantly in the second half, but Portland held on for the victory in the first annual “Community Shield” match between the Northwest rivals.
“That’s very disappointing,” said Keller. “Very disappointing. Disappointing for us, disappointing for our fans. But hopefully it’s a wakeup call. We can’t just be at home and think that we’re going to win because we’ve got a great crowd behind us. I just hope it’s a wakeup call and we realize that we need to be better… . Let’s just hope that some guys took this for what it was and said, ‘We don’t have any right to just step on the field and win a game.’ You have to earn it.”
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