With two wins at RFK Stadium against D.C. United in their last two matches, Seattle Sounders FC have revealed a confidence that they always knew they had away from Qwest Field, one which has often eluded them during their admirable inaugural season in MLS.
Sounders FC defeated D.C. United on Saturday night by the same 2-1 score as they did 10 days earlier in capturing the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup for the club's first trophy. With the two wins, they are now 3-1-1 in their last five matches overall away from home since a forgettable 4-0 pounding at San Jose at the beginning of August.
"It would be nice to play somebody else although one of the big questions on our team earlier was we didn't play well on grass, we didn't play well on the road -- so hopefully we are dispelling that rumor," said Seattle head coach Sigi Schmid after the back-to-back road trips to the nation's capital.
"We always felt we were a good team on the road," Schmid continued. "We felt we were close but with the exception of the San Jose game where we got blown out, we felt like in a lot of the other road games we were very competitive and we were there. But sometimes we put ourselves in a hole with red cards and made it difficult for us to play, but we just felt it was a matter of time before we got those points."
This new air of confidence could not have come at a better time for Sounders FC. Three of their last five matches are on the road as they look to secure a playoff spot and add another accolade to an already credible season.
"Coming in here twice and winning gives us a lot of confidence," said defender James Riley, who set up Fredy Montero's game-winning goal in the 84th minute. "To know that we can create chances and contain a great offensive side with an all-star lineup coming at you, it's fun for sure. Either when we go on the road or when we are at home, the difference I think now is we've always created chances but we've been unlucky not to score. There hasn't been a game where we were absolutely dominated in creating chances -- minus San Jose."
Sandwiched between the wins at D.C. and the debacle at Buck Shaw Stadium in San Jose, Sounders FC dropped a well played a 1-0 tussle to resurgent Real Salt Lake. But they then shut out Los Angeles, perhaps the hottest team in MLS, 2-0 at The Home Depot Center and followed that up with a 1-1 draw at Western Conference-leading Houston on their next journey away from Qwest Field.
"The win at LA Galaxy was big because they were playing some great stuff at the time and that built up some confidence and so to win at Home Depot (Center) and to win here at D.C., these are the kind of things that give us momentum going into the postseason and that is what we are trying to build," said Steve Zakuani, whose scored the opening goal just five minutes into the match.
Zakuani slipped behind United defender Bryan Namoff, latching onto a sensational ball from Peter Vagenas, and slid the ball through the legs of goalkeeper Josh Wicks.
The intriguing matchup between Zakuani and Namoff provided great in game theater as the speedy rookie jockeyed for time and space with the steady veteran on the Sounders FC attacking left flank.
"He's a veteran and he is not going to let a first-year player, a rookie, give him problems, so it was fun. But at the same time I am going to try and play my game no matter who I am playing against and it's nice like tonight when it works, it's perfect," said Zakuani.
Seattle was missing a critical component of their attack with Freddie Ljungberg suspended for the match for yellow card accumulation. However, despite his absence Schmid changed very little.
"We have had to play a lot of games without Freddie and some games without Montero," Schmid said. "We knew they were going to come with a four(-man backline) this time so we didn't really have somebody drop in that hole and we tried to stay high on the two center backs."
Regardless, the match was physical as both teams are vying for one of the final playoff spots in a crowded table.
"It's always going to be physical from the standpoint that teams are fighting for their lives now because everybody wants to get into the playoffs. We talked about it and felt if we can get to 45 points we would have a chance at it. We have 37 now, so we need to get eight points out of our last five games," said Schmid. "We have two of those at home and we are getting closer to achieving what we want to achieve and the main thing is that our team believed in itself and that it's going to be a physical game and they know that they (United) are on that borderline as well."
Chris Snear is a contributor to MLSnet.com.
