Sounders close out the regular season on a winning note, 3-1 over Chivas USA.

By Money Mike


The Seattle Sounders on the last day of the 2011 regular season crush Chivas USA 3-1 at the Home Depot Center. The Sounders finish the regular season with an 18-7-9 record which gives them 63 points and also become the 10th team in history to win 9 road games in a season. Chivas USA ends their season with a record of 8-14-12 which is good for 36 points. The Sounders next week will head to Rio Tinto Stadium to face Real Salt Lake in the 1st Leg of the MLS Cup Quarterfinals. The match will either be played on Saturday or Sunday. The return leg will be on either November 5th or 6th at CenturyLink Field.

Now this is was a scary moment for the Sounders. In the 5th minute, Mauro Rosales, who made his first start since the D.C. United match when he sprained his MCL, looked to have sprained it yet again. 2nd year man, Ben Zemanski came in hard and late on the tackle and picked up a yellow card for the Challenge. Rosales taken off the field on a stretcher and was replaced in the 10th minute by Roger Levesque. A couple minutes later, Rosales got up off the stretcher and walked to the bench under his own power. As far as we know, the injury doesn't look as bad as it first looked on the screen.

Now onto the 53rd minute when the Sounders took the lead after an own goal. After some nice build up by the Men in Rave Green with James Riley and Fredy Montero, Andrew Boyens tried to clear the ball away, however, he accidentally backheeled it into his own net to give the Sounders a 1-0 advantage.

15 minutes later, El Flacco doubled the Sounders lead. Brad Evans, after seeing that both Roger Levesque and Fredy Montero were in an offside position chipped the ball over the defense for Alvaro Fernandez who curled it past Dan Kennedy and into the far corner for his 9th goal in MLS this season and his 11th in all compitions. Five minutes later, it would be Sammy Ochoa's turn to get on the scoresheet with a terrific diving header off a Fredy Montero cross to make it 3-0 Sounders.

Chivas would get a consulation goal in the 83rd minute off a header by Victor Estupinan for his first MLS goal, but that wasn't enough for the goats as the Sounders come away with a 3-1 win.


Scoring summary:

Seattle Sounders FC - Own Goal (Andrew Boyens) 53'

Seattle Sounders FC - Alvaro Fernandez 9 (Brad Evans 5) 68'

Seattle Sounders FC - Sammy Ochoa 2 (Fredy Montero 9, Roger Levesque 3) 73'

Chivas USA - Victor Estupinan 1 (Andrew Boyens 1, Mariano Trujillo 2) 83'


Misconduct summary:

Chivas USA - Ben Zemanski (caution; Reckless tackle) 5'

Seattle Sounders FC - Roger Levesque (caution; Reckless foul) 40'

Seattle Sounders FC - Brad Evans (caution; Dissent) 79'

Seattle Sounders FC - Fredy Montero (caution; Lack of Respect for Game) 80'


Lineups:

Seattle Sounders FC - Kasey Keller; James Riley, Jeff Parke, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Leonardo Gonzalez (Tyson Wahl 81'); Mauro Rosales (Roger Levesque 10'), Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Alvaro Fernandez; Fredy Montero, Mike Fucito (Sammy Ochoa 64')

Chivas USA - Dan Kennedy; Zarek Valentin, Heath Pearce (Andrew Boyens 46'), David Junior Lopes, Ante Jazic (Mariano Trujillo 56'); Alejandro Moreno, Blair Gaven, Nick LaBrocca, Ben Zemanski; Juan Pablo Angel (Victor Estupinan 75'), Marcos Mondaini

Seattle Sounders FC vs Chivas USA preview

By Money Mike







The Seattle Sounders return home to face Chivas USA having re-gained confidence last week late in their match against Kansas City, scoring two goals and coming away with a 2-1 win. Last year, the Sounders took the season series against Chivas, drawing on the road and winning 2-1 in their final regular season home match. The Sounders look to pull into second place in the western conference and stay in the hunt for the top spot in MLS. Right now they are sitting in third place at 41 points, FC Dallas just a point ahead of them for 2nd, sitting at 42 points and the LA Galaxy are on top with 48 points.





Injury report:



Chivas USA - For Chivas, only one player listed here. Jimmy Conrad has been battling a concussion since week 3 and he's not gonna make his return this week.



Seattle Sounders FC - For the Seattle Sounders, of course we have Zakuani out. Brad Evans is right now listed as probable with a strained hammy. Terry Boss has been dealing with a concussion these past couple of weeks, he is no longer on the injured list. And both Jhon Kennedy Hurtado and O'Brian White are game-time decisions for this match.





Key matchups:



Justin Braun vs Jeff Parke - Justin Braun has been scoring in bunches this season, I don't know how he hasn't recieved an international call-up (Bob Bradley at his best. lol). 7 goals this season including two hat-tricks. And Jeff Parke who has stuggled these last couple of times can not afford to make one wrong move that will allow Justin Braun to score.



Mauro Rosales vs Ante Jazic - These two teams lead their respective teams in assists this season. Mauro Rosales has 7 assists to go with his three goals. On the other side Ante Jazic, who is a left back, has 6 assists. You just wonder how this dynamic will work on the flank.