Sounders fall 2-0 as New York Red Bulls win fifth straight

The Sounders headed to New York hoping to continue the momentum they had gained before the Copa America break. This wasn’t the case as Sigi Schmid’s team slumped to a 2-0 loss to the Red Bulls, who won their fifth match in a row.

The Sounders were without Clint Dempsey again due to the star forward’s duties with the United States men’s national team, but the team was otherwise quite healthy heading into the match. Schmid started up top with Aaron Kovar, Jordan Morris and Joevin Jones, whose forays into attack had been going quite well; he scored goals against D.C. United and the Kitsap Pumas while playing in an attacking role.

The first half started fairly evenly, with both teams getting some good looks on goal early on. Jordan Morris had a header go wide, and both Kovar and Erik Friberg wasted opportunities from distance. Seattle had looked pretty competent on defense, but a couple of lapses led to New York’s opening goal. Sacha Kljestan was able to shoot from distance, and even though the Sounders were lucky that his shot didn’t go in, it rebounded off the post and right into the path of Mike Grella, who fired into the open net.

A few more chances went the way of both teams, most notably for the Sounders an excellent bicycle kick from Kovar that went directly at the goalkeeper. The half ended with just the one goal to the Red Bulls.

Even though the Sounders had a number of good chances on goal in the first half, the second half saw far fewer solid opportunities. The chances themselves came, but the Sounders just couldn’t finish them. Oalex Anderson and Nelson Valdez came on in the half, both making returns after being out for various reasons for at least a month. Neither player made a difference for their team, as the few opportunities that came their way were wasted.

The Red Bulls knocked at the door just like they did in the first half, and their persistence paid off when Grella scored his second with a nice chip over Stefan Frei after the Sounders’ defense completely lost him in the box. The Red Bulls didn’t get too many chances after that, and the Sounders’ own pressing for a goal didn’t come of anything as the score finished at 2-0.

Man of the match: Seattle really had no real man of the match in this one. Even the players who had good moments played poorly at times.

Turning point: The best chances for the Sounders were in the first half, and the semi-fluky opening goal made it hard for them to get back into the match.

One reason to worry: Seattle should have been much better in this match considering the Red Bulls went into it with only a few more points. The Sounders were supposed to be better than most teams in the East, but after this loss they’re starting to look like one of the worst teams in all of MLS.

One reason to relax: Dempsey has been one of the best players in Copa America, proving many of his doubters wrong. If his form continues when he gets back to Seattle, he could reinvigorate the Sounders’ season.

Spenser Davis also covers the Sounders for Sounder at Heart.