Seattle Sounders 1, San Jose Earthquakes 1
Sounders Starting XI: Stefan Frei; Joevin Jones, Chad Marshall, Roman Torres, Oniel Fisher; Cristian Roldan, Osvaldo Alonso; Harry Shipp, Clint Dempsey, Nicolas Lodeiro; Jordan Morris.
Substitutes: Gustav Svensson for Torres in the 15th minute due to an injury, Alvaro Fernandez for Fisher in the 70th, and Jordy Delem for Dempsey in the 88th.
Scoring Summary:
After a second half full of chances for the Sounders, the 83rd minute turned the tides in Seattle's favor. Clint Dempsey earned a free kick at the top of the San Jose box after a body-check tackle by Fatai Alashe, who received a yellow card. The free kick, taken by Dempsey, deflected off the wall and back to Lodeiro who used his left foot to volley in the first goal.
San Jose feverishly attacked in the following minutes, in an attempt to equalize. Chris Wondolowski once again played the role of spoiler to the Sounders, scoring his 11th career goal against Seattle in the 90th minute.
Despite being seconds away from returning from San Jose with three points, the Sounders come home with just one. "Even though it's a draw, it feels like a loss. So we're not happy," Head Coach Brian Schmetzer said.
Takeaways:
In the 11th minute, Roman Torres went down, away from the ball, with a left hamstring strain. After a few minutes, Torres walked off the pitch with a trainer, being replaced by Gustav Svensson shortly thereafter. An update should be provided by Schmetzer next week.
Osvaldo Alonso made multiple slide challenges that halted San Jose attacks throughout, including one late in the first half inside the Seattle box that welcomed a shower of booing from the opposing fans at Avaya Stadium. On the attacking end, Alonso nearly connected on a long shot shortly before the first half ended.
Despite not making the trip to San Jose, Brad Evans is not far from being healthy enough to return to the Sounders starting lineup, likely at right back.
Oniel Fisher, who started at right back on Saturday, needed a positive performance to make an argument for why he, not Evans, should start at the position going forward for Seattle. In the 17th minute, Fisher lost his footing deep in Sounders' territory, turning the ball over and nearly allowing an early San Jose goal.
Fisher exited the match in the 70th minute, replaced by Alvaro Fernandez.