Sounders hold on for a historic win at Monterrey in the Champions League.

By Money Mike









The Seattle Sounders became the second MLS team to beat a Mexican team on Mexican soil in over a week. The Sounders upset defending CONCACAF Champions, Monterrey 1-0 to move into first place in the Group Stage. There were a couple of nervous moments in the second half when Monterrey came right at them, but the Sounders were able to hang on and get the full 3 points. People need to start taking this tournament seriously, especially with the Sounders off to a 2-0 start in Group play. I mean, winning the Champions League is as big as winning the MLS Cup. Even out of all of that, America is just too freakin stupid to understand that. If this wasn't a big win, I don't know what the hell is. Sigi Schmid left Kasey Keller, Mauro Rosales and Fredy Montero out of the 18 man squad and partnered Nate Jaqua up front with Pat Noonan. Terry Boss, as expected, got the start in goal. Josh Ford was on the squad as a backup goalkeeper behind Boss. And also, Amadou Sanyang made his Sounders debut, coming on in the 84th minute of the match.



The Sounders ceded most of the possession early opted to play counter attacking football and in the 38th minute, Seattle was on the move as Pat Noonan fed Alvaro Fernandez with a pinpoint ball. Flacco split defenders Darvin Chavez and Miguel Morales and calmly roofed the ball past Goalkeeper Jonathan Orozco to give Seattle a 1-0 lead.



In the second half, Monterrey came out strong. In the 66th minute, the Sounders dodged a huge bullet. Terry Boss lost the ball to Aldo de Nigris as he was trying to clear it. He then nearly took him down which would've resulted in a penalty and possibly a straight red card. de Nigris laid the ball back to Humberto Suazo who ripped the ball wide of goal. That would've been a disastrous moment for Terry Boss and the Seattle Sounders. Despite Monterrey finishing with 11 shots on goal, it was Seattle who came away with a full three points over the CONCACAF Champions.



The Sounders return home to Seattle as they get set to host the Columbus Crew on Saturday at CenturyLink Field. Then they host FC Dallas in the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup next Tuesday at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila.





Scoring summary:



Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez (Pat Noonan) 38'





Misconduct summary:



Seattle Sounders FC - Nate Jaqua (caution; Reckless tackle) 48'





Lineups:



Seattle Sounders FC - Terry Boss; James Riley, Zach Scott, Jeff Parke, Tyson Wahl; Roger Levesque (Amadou Sanyang 84'), Brad Evans, Servando Carrasco, Alvaro Fernandez (Leonardo Gonzalez 76'); Nate Jaqua (Osvaldo Alonso 65'), Pat Noonan



Monterrey - Jonathan Orozco; Darvin Chavez, Hiram Mier, Severo Meza (Ricardo Osorio 83'); Jesus Manuel Corona (Abraham Carreno 73'), Neri Cardozo, Luis Ernesto Perez, Hector Morales (Walter Ayovi 62'); Aldo de Nigris, Jesus Eduardo Zavala, Humberto Suazo





Now here's a look at the highlights:

Sounders sign Amadou Sanyang

By Money Mike



Well I didn't see this coming at all, but there we're moves in the past years that were unpredictable, and I'm not the only one who didn't expect the Sounders to sign this dude, but if it happens, it happens. The Sounders earlier today just signed 19-year old Gambian midfielder Amadou Sanyang who was a free agent having had his option declined by Toronto FC during the offseason.

Sanyang began his career in 2007 with Gambian club Real de Banjul. He helped lead the club to the Gambian first division championship and was named the leagues top midfielder that year.

His play with the Gambian under-20 national team sparked interest among Major League Soccer clubs and in 2009, he was signed by Toronto FC. Because of the fact that he was 17 at the time, he spent five months with the TFC Academy before he made his MLS debut with Toronto on August 1, 2009 against the New England Revolution. In his first full season with Toronto, Sanyang made 13 appearances before suffering a concussion which forced him to miss the second half of the season.

This is what Sigi Schmid said about this kid. "Positionally, Amadou is a good fit for us because he can play either midfield or in the back. He's a good passer, a good defender, and can cover a lot of ground."


What I think about this move:

Personally, I'm a little surprised about this pickup because now the Sounders have reached their roster limit with 30 players on the team, and there was a rumor about Kyle Lafferty joining as a Designated Player. If that move came into place, that would mean one of the players on this team would have to pack their bags and head out.

I think this is an OK move, not because of what Sigi said about him because I don't know much about him, but because it provides more depth in the midfield and also defensively since we have been dealing with injuries in both areas. And hearing he can cover a lot of ground is good to hear. I think what the coaching staff should do when they get back to Seattle and start preping for the 2nd leg against San Francisco FC is to work with him in the attacking area, you know, start having him get in on the attack a little more, not really to score goals, but to provide an option, to set up scoring opportunities because it doesn't look like he's done much of that during his TFC stint.