SEATTLE – The Seattle Sounders came up short in their afternoon home matchup against Toronto FC at CenturyLink Fied on Saturday, conceding a first-half penalty kick to Jozy Altidore that proved to be the decisive tally in a 1-0 defeat, snapping Seattle's 11-match regular season home unbeaten streak.
It was the first matchup between the sides since last season’s MLS Cup final, which saw the Sounders triumph in penalty kicks at BMO Field. Toronto were shorthanded on Saturday, playing the match without star forward Sebastian Giovinco, playmaker Victor Vazquez and center back Eriq Zavaleta, but Altidore’s tally and the clean sheet would prove to be enough to earn the road result.
Seattle looked to have grabbed the lead in just the sixth minute off a free kick from Cristian Roldan that found Jordan Morris in front of goal. Morris snuck his headed attempt past Toronto goalkeeper Clint Irwin and into the net, but the assistant referee waved off the tally after ruling that Sounders defender Gustav Svensson had impacted the play from an offside position, negating the goal despite the adamant protests of the Sounders players.
Toronto would then grab the lead in the 23rd minute after Sounders center back Roman Torres was whistled for a foul on Altidore in his own box, giving the 27-year-old US national team staple a look from the spot against Sounders ‘keeper Stefan Frei. Altidore would convert the opportunity for his sixth goal of the season, putting Seattle in the early 1-0 deficit.
Altidore would have a pair of chances at doubling the lead, the first on a shot on off a counterattack that went wide and the second on a 40th minute rocket shot that Frei managed to swat away.
The Sounders, meanwhile, would watch their best chance at an equalizer of the first half fall by the wayside, when Morris was denied by Irwin from point blank range off a feed from Nicolas Lodeiro and the Sounders would head into halftime trailing 1-0.
Neither side would manage to crack the scoresheet in the second half allowing the 1-0 score to hold as the final.
The loss moved the Sounders to 2-3-4 on the season ahead of their next match, which will see them hit the road to take on the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park on May 13.
