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Dempsey goal gives Sounders FC 1-0 win over Sporting Kansas City

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Sounders forward Clint Dempsey scored his 50th career goal in a Sounders uniform as Sounders FC  (10-7-7, 37 points) moved into first place in the Western Conference with a 1-0 shutout win over Sporting Kansas City (9-5-10, 37 points) Saturday afternoon in front of 43,530 fans on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field.

Dempsey’s 36th-minute goal was all the Rave Green needed to extend their MLS unbeaten streak to six games. The Sounders most impressive record during the unbeaten streak has been the four consecutive clean sheets Stefan Frei and his backline has produced. The last time Seattle surrendered a goal was the July 19th  4-3 win over D.C United.The current streak of 400 minutes without allowing a goal establishes a new club record, surpassing the previous record of 379 minutes set from July 25 – August 28, 2010.

Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer was impressed by his team’s effort from the back line to the front line.

“I’ll address it in the sense that when we made that announcement in the locker room, the first thing that Stef did was start pointing at all of his teammates and saying, ‘No, it’s you guys, it’s you guys,’ because that’s the kind of character that Stef has.  Certainly, when you talk about scoreless streaks, it goes to the goalkeeper. When you talk about scoring streaks — you know,Dempsey’s 50th goal for this club – that’s another individual stat on the other end, the attacking end. But the team, front to back, defended well – including Clint – in front of Stef. And from Stef going the opposite direction, the team was helping us get the ball front to back”

Dempsey now has 44 career regular-season goals for Seattle, three shy of Fredy Montero’s club record of 47. Only he and Montero have reached the 50-goal mark for the club, with Dempsey now 10 goals shy of the Colombian’s all competitions scoring mark for the Rave Green.

  • Sounders FC currently has an eight-match unbeaten streak (5-0-3), with the club’s last regular-season loss coming on June 17. The current mark is one shy of the club record of nine set from May 28 – July 16, 2011.
  • Seattle leads the all-time series with SKC 8-5-3, including a 4-2-2 mark at CenturyLink Field. Saturday’s result snapped a six-match winless run (0-4-2) in regular-season action against Sporting.
  • Sounders FC returns to action next Sunday, August 20 against Minnesota United FC at 7:00 p.m. PT with a nationally televised broadcast on FS1.

Sounders FC at Sporting Kansas City in must win clash

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Sounders Joevin Jones tries to split the defenders
Sounders Joevin Jones tries to split the defenders

Normally the football term, the business end is used with about three to four weeks left in a soccer season. It is the last week of July and Seattle Sounders FC ( 6-11-2, 20 points) are at the business end of their schedule. So using the said premise ,the Sounders have about four weeks let in the season right? Note quite,t he Sounders last regular season game is scheduled for October 23rd. The Sounders business end of the football will begin Sunday  ( 12:00 p.m. PT) in Kansas City when the Rave Green will face off against Sporting KC ( 8-10-4, 28 points). The Rave Green are in cardiac arrest mode and in dire need of a double dose of the defibrillator machine to stabilize themselves. Translation, Sunday is a must, must, must  win game for Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid and his players.

http://www.soundersfc.com/post/2016/07/23/interview-sigi-schmid-teams-final-training-ahead-skc?autoplay=true

If the Sounders are to kick start their season in the Nationally televised game( ESPN), they will need to play smart, and cohesive soccer. The Sounders have lost their last two games, 4-2 at the LA Galaxy in a U.S. Open Cup Quarterfinal match and a 3-1 loss at the Portland Timbers in MLS play. In both road losses, the Sounders were unable to secure a victory after taking the lead. A perplexing paradox to say the least.

After dispelling of the, “inability to score demon,” the Sounders have found themselves, battling the, “what was I thinking demon.” The Sounders are giving it a full 89 minutes and unfortunately the game is played a minimum of 90 minutes with all 11 players on the same page. The backline will need to push up field when the opportunity is there but track back and have one of the midfield players stay back and help.

Sporting KC center-forward Dominic Dwyer leads the team with eight goals while midfielder Benny Felihaber is the top assist man with five assists. The two veterans spearhead a disciplined attack that can score goals by exploiting defensive weakness in the backline.

Seattle will be without midfielder lynchpin Osvaldo Alonso due to a yellow card accumulation and will look to the speed of Cristian Roldan to provide some pace and width along with midfielder mate Erik Friberg  who will try to win the possession battle in what will be a hot and humid afternoon. Clint Dempsey will return to the line up after missing the Portland game and could be the difference maker if he and Jordan Morris can click on some up front combination passes that lead to goals.

Sporting KC will be returning home after two consecutive 1-0 road losses. Sporting is 6-4-1 at home while the Sounders  are 1-6-2 on the road.