TALKING POINTS
There’s two main things to take away from this game, the micro picture and the macro picture.
Let’s start with the micro picture. This game’s outcome was determined by penalty kicks. Vancouver was awarded two PKs, one in the 10th minute and one in the 74th minute. Pedro Morales converted both, with each giving the Whitecaps the lead.
There’s serious questions to be asked about the first call. It sure looked like Vancouver’s veteran Costa Rican international, Christian Bolanos, conned referee Mark Geiger to win the penalty. Bolanos was pursing a ball into the Seattle penalty box, with Sounders defender Joevin Jones in pursuit. Bolanos fell theatrically to the turf, as if his heel had been clipped from behind. However, the replays suggested there was no contact between the players’ feet.
The second penalty call seemed legit, as Sounders defender Chad Marshall took out the legs of Vancouver’s Blas Perez as Perez chased a long ball into the penalty box.
But the whether the calls were penalties or not is the small picture. The big picture is that for the first time in Seattle’s eight-year history they’ve started the season 0-3. The closest they came to starting the season with three straight losses in the past was 2011, when the Sounders lost their first two before tying their third. Seattle has never missed the playoffs, and in recent years has been among the favorites to lift the MLS Cup, so the slow start is cause for concern.
Then there’s the nature of the losses. Seattle had the advantage in possession (60.3-39.7), shots (19-9) and corners (8-1), but was unable to convert those numbers into goals outside of Andreas Ivanschitz’s rocket free-kick goal in the 52nd minute. It’s a pattern that also played out in the Sounders’ first two games of the season. Surely Seattle is missing the presence of Obafemi Martins, who left the team for China just before the season began. But the Sounders still have big-time resources invested in attacking players Clint Dempsey, Nelson Valdez and Jordan Morris, and so far those three have not shown signs of connecting. Dempsey’s shocking miss in the 80th minute, when he rolled a wide-open shot from the penalty spot just wide of the post, pretty much summed up Seattle’s offense over the first three games.
Seattle now has a week off before hosting Montreal in its next game on April 2. The Sounders better hope the break helps turn the tide.
TURNING POINT
The first penalty really set the tone for the game, as it meant the Sounders had to press the rest of the way. It had all the more impact because it probably shouldn’t have been called in the first place.
QUOTABLE
“You can’t go and beat yourself against the wall, keep hitting your head against the wall, because eventually you start bleeding and you don’t accomplish anything. You’ve got to analyze it. We have to stay strong in our will and in our endeavor and in our belief with each other. But obviously we’re not happy.”
– Sounders coach Sigi Schmid on the team’s 0-3 start
BOX SCORE
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