KANSAS CITY, KANSAS – Securing a crucial point in the race for the 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs on Sunday afternoon, Seattle Sounders FC (14-13-4, 46 points) drew Sporting Kansas City (12-9-9, 45 points) 1-1 in front of 19,496 fans at Sporting Park and a nationally televised audience on ESPN. With the draw, Sigi Schmid’s side remains ahead of Sporting in the Western Conference race, with Seattle now just two points behind first-place Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Today’s result marks the third and final meeting between Sounders FC and Sporting KC in the 2015 campaign. Seattle only has three MLS regular season matches remaining in its season, all against key Western Conference opponents in the month of October. The first of these critical fixtures is slated for next Sunday, October 4 against rival LA Galaxy on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field (6:30 p.m. PT / ESPN, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360 AM).
Bagging his team-leading 14th goal of 2015 in just 18 MLS appearances, forward Obafemi Martins vaulted Seattle into the lead at Sporting Park in the 32nd minute. The Nigerian received a long-distance lofted through ball from central midfielder Gonzalo Pineda, sprinting onto the pass and finishing past Sporting KC goalkeeper Jon Kempin at the far post. The assist was Pineda’s second helper of 2015. Martins has tied the club record with a goal in five-consecutive league matches, joining Fredy Montero’s scoring stretch from June 13-July 11, 2009.
Sporting Kansas City netted the equalizer in the 79th minute on a goal from Dom Dwyer. Just minutes after entering the match, the English forward recorded a goal from close range courtesy of service from defender Amadou Dia. Dwyer had another late chance to take the lead, but a reactionary save from goalkeeper Stefan Frei halted the effort.
Frei recorded six saves in the contest to move into second place among all MLS goalkeepers with 106 stops on the season. Clint Dempsey led the Rave Green with five shot attempts, including an effort that sailed just wide of the right post in the 85th minute on a combination with Martins.
Following today’s match, Sounders FC is set to meet the LA Galaxy for the third and final time in the 2015 MLS regular season on Sunday, October 4. Sunday’s match kicks-off at 6:30 p.m. PT from CenturyLink Field and has crucial MLS Cup Playoff implications, as Seattle and LA currently sit in fourth and third place, respectively, in the Western Conference. LA faces FC Dallas tonight at the StubHub Center.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 1 – Sporting Kansas City 1
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Venue: Sporting Park
Referee: Armando Villarreal
Assistants: Corey Parker, Matthew Nelson
Fourth Official: Marcos de Oliveira
Attendance: 19,496
Weather: Partly cloudy and 81 degrees
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Obafemi Martins (Gonzalo Pineda) 32’
SKC – Dom Dwyer (Amadou Dia, Jacob Peterson) 79’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SKC – Paulo Nagamura (caution) 35’
SEA – Osvaldo Alonso (caution) 44’
SEA – Clint Dempsey (caution) 82’
SKC – Soni Mustivar (caution) 82’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Zach Scott, Brad Evans – captain, Oniel Fisher; Nelson Valdez (Lamar Neagle 84’), Osvaldo Alonso (Erik Friberg 73’), Gonzalo Pineda, Andreas Ivanschitz (Marco Pappa 64’); Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins
Substitutes not used: Troy Perkins, Leo Gonzalez, Chad Marshall, Cristian Roldan
Total shots: 9 (Dempsey, 5)
Shots on goal: 3 (Martins, 2)
Fouls: 7 (Alonso, 4)
Offside: 1 (Ivanschitz, 1)
Corner-kicks: 2 (Ivanschitz/Pappa, 1)
Saves: 6 (Frei, 6)
Sporting Kansas City – Jon Kempin; Jalil Anibaba (Saad Abdul-Salaam 66’), Kevin Ellis, Erik Palmer-Brown, Amadou Dia; Mikey Lopez, Paulo Nagamura (Soni Mustivar HT), Jordi Quintilla, Connor Hallisey, Jacob Peterson, Bernardo Anor (Dom Dwyer 74’)
Substitutes not used: Trey Mitchell, Marcel de Jong, Amobi Okugo, Jimmy Medrana
Total shots: 12 (Anor, 4)
Shots on goal: 7 (Anor, 3)
Fouls: 15 (Quintilla, 4)
Offside: 1 (Palmer-Brown, 1)
Corner-kicks: 5 (Quintilla, 3)
Saves: 2 (Kempin, 2)
MATCH NOTES
- Seattle Sounders FC (14-13-4, 46 points) remains in fourth place in the Western Conference table with three games remaining in the 2015 MLS regular season. The Rave Green are now unbeaten in five-straight league matches and six matches across all competitions.
- Seattle is 7-2-3 all-time against Sporting, including a 4-1-1 record in Kansas City. All 12 regular season meetings between Sporting and Seattle have been decided by one goal or fewer.
- Martins has seven goals in seven games since returning from injury on August 16. After today’s result, the club is 28-1-2 all-time when Martins scores. Martins has tied the club record with a goal in five consecutive league matches, joining Fredy Montero’s scoring stretch from June 13-July 11, 2009.
- In 2015, Sounders FC has posted a 13-2-1 mark when scoring first and an 11-0-1 record when leading at halftime.
- After six saves in today’s match, Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei ranks second in MLS with 106 saves.
