Seattle 1 – Saprissa 2

Not a pretty game at times, Seattle was already eliminated from advancing any further in the CONCACAF Champions League. Saprissa still controlled their destiny and would advance to the last 8 with a win tonight.

Sounders largely played their reserves tonight. Terry Boss apparently picked up an injury shortly before the game and Keller started in goal. Keller was among those who did not have a good night.

First the positives, Seattle look solid down the middle; they have depth in both defence and midfield. Tyrone Marshal, Alvaro Fernandez and Taylor Graham all looked good today.

Nate Jaqua had a decent game; he had little support, but did well playing as a classic, physical centre forward and was a clear presence in the box. Created a couple of good chances and his positioning on the Seattle goal was excellent.

There has to be some not so good. Miguel Montano is a long way from the finished article and clearly not ready to start. He played 30 minutes tonight and while fast need to be more disciplined with the ball. Also took a dumb yellow card for diving.

For all the depth in defence and the middle of the field, they looked awfully short of creative options up front. Levesque and Estrada did not have good games. Neither player seemed to have a first touch worth the name and when it got really chippy with lots of pushing in the Saprissa box neither could do anything when they got the ball. Very disappointing.

Lastly was the execution on set pieces, free kicks especially were particularly bad this evening. Nothing more to say, other then Nyassi and Montero were missed.

Seattle had the best of the play in the first half and deserved their goal. A well-taken chance by Fernandez just inside the box that was stopped, the rebound fell to Jaqua who finished well.

The goal came a few minutes after a huge scramble in front of the Saprissa goal. The ball ended up in the back of the net, but somewhere in the scramble the referee saw an infringement and did not give the goal.

Saprissa looked dangerous on the break and  equalized a few minutes after Seattle went ahead, an awful goal to concede too. The ball was behind the defence and there seemed to be a miscommunication between Keller and Scott, neither went for the loose ball and it needed up as an easy tap in for the impressive looking Jairo Arrieta.

After the break the game degenerated with some rather physical play from both sides. Seattle seemed to be on the receiving end of the more blatant stuff and the card kept on coming out. Inevitable someone was going to get booked a second time and it was a Saprissa player sent off for a second yellow.

The sending off was just after the second Saprissa goal. The score came with only a couple of minutes left in regulation and it was totally on Keller, the ball just slipped through his hands. I’m sure he’d like to have another chance at that.

It was a beautiful October night in Seattle and the game attracted a decent crowd of over 11.000. The game was entertaining at times, very frustrating at others. Saprissa needed a win and had a little luck tonight in getting it.

Overall results in this competition have been disappointing. Seattle have played six, won one, lost five. It looked like a tough group when it was drawn with both Monterry and Saprissa. Two clubs with lots of success in this tournament. It turned out to be a very tough group, but Seattle will be back next year, a little more experienced and hopefully a little more successful.