The momentum is building and with 10 points out of the last 12 available in the league this looks a lot like the team we expected to see at the beginning of the year.
First there was Sundays great performance at San Jose, and it really was a great performance from Seattle. Unquestionably the better side throughout the game, the first 20 minutes were some of the best end-to-end team football they’ve played this year. The effort shown in the second half when San Jose threw caution to the wind in the effort to get a point at home was very solid.
I think the biggest difference between today and a couple of months ago is the workrate and effort from the entire team. Having Osvaldo Alonso back made a huge difference to Seattle’s second effort, he played a very physical game and really controlled the midfield.
The passing was crisp, possession was controlled, and when the ball was lost a lot of effort was put into getting it back. In the past it’s not been quite as hard fought in the middle of the field.
Montero looks so good right now, the more I see him play the more I’m convinced hes going to be a very, very good player. He’s maturing and with players like Sanna Nyassi and Fernandez feeding him he’s got a chance to keep the scoring streak going.
Tonight was the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round game. Seattle led 1-0 from the first leg in El Salvador was all they needed to go through to the group stage. The pitch looked marginal and the rain never let up for the entire game, but once again we saw a solid team performance that got the result they needed.
This turned out to be a very entertaining game, both teams played decent football. Metaplan went ahead before half time with a well-taken goal that gave Keller no chance.
From then on Seattle clearly had a majority of the possession and were playing well enough that they were going to score sooner or later. There were a couple of close off side calls, one of which had Levesque through on goal, but Seattle looked comfortable and patient looking for the opening.
The chance fell to substitute Alvaro Fernandez. He scored his first goal in a Seattle shirt with about 15 minutes left to play. With away goals counting double Metapan needed to score twice to go through. It was not happening tonight, Seattle looked to competent to allow that to happen again this year.
So another six games this year, including with games in Mexico, Honduras and Panama over the next three months. That sounds like a fun way to spend a few days vacation this fall.
Sounders are now 7 games undefeated in all competitions (league, Open cup and Champions League), the team have moved into play off contention and seem to be hitting form at the right time.
Sunday is Houston at Quest, a team we are building a very nice rivalry and the first meeting since Seattle were bumped out of the play offs by Houston last year. Another win and three points would go a long way to securing that play off place. Going to be a fun night under the lights.