SCHMID HAPPY WITH RESULT

admin

Seattle Sounders manager Sigi Schmid has stated that he is extremely happy with the 1-1 draw with FC Dallas in the first leg of the MLS cup semifinals. The play-offs have started with a bang with many surprise results. Dallas getting a draw against Seattle Sounders is definitely one of them. Despite being the away team, Seattle were expected to come away with a win. It would have put them in a comfortable position ahead of the return leg next week at home. After having failed to create much chances throughout the 90 minutes, Seattle secured a draw courtesy of Alonso’s equaliser from a set piece in the second half.

Considering the difficult nature of the match, Schmid said that the draw was a good result for his team. His opposition counterpart, Oscar Pareja, clearly did not feel happy about the result as he wanted to take advantage of the home support. As it is, his team have everything to do in the second leg and cannot sit back. Seattle trailed at halftime after conceding a penalty to Michel. Even a scoreless draw will be enough for Seattle to get through into the next round. Defender Zach Scott said that the new away goals rule is a major advantage especially for this campaign.

“We’re happy with the result. We talked about making sure at the end of game one we put ourselves in a position to win it in game two. We’ve always done a good job of being at home in the second game and winning the second game,” said Schmid to the PlainSailing site. “I think in years past we were maybe a little naïve coming into this first series playing away and finding ourselves in a deep hole. Now with the new away goals rule I thought we played it exactly the way we wanted to,” said defender Scott.

Curtin Still Manages Draw Without BEst Line Up

Liam

Even after keeping most of the main players out of action, the Philadelphia Union managed to get a point against the New York Red Bulls the other day.

Because of the upcoming Cup final, the interim man in charge of the Union, Jim Curtin, did not start with the best possible line up.

The likes of Williams, Maidana and Le Toux watched the proceedings from the side lines.

Le Toux came on though later on as a substitute and converted a penalty to make sure the Red Bulls don’t walk away with another win.

This draw has taken the Union one position up i.e. at no. 6 in the Eastern Conference points table. The Red Bulls are at 4 with 38 points.

Brian Carroll, the skipper of Philadelphia, reckons that pulling off a draw playing with almost a second string side is quite good for the team’s morale.

Speaking in the interview after the match, the American playmaker said, “We never stop trying no matter what combination and which personnel we are playing with.    You would have seen how desperate we were for that equalizer and that shows the hunger in this group.”

“This outcome is certainly a morale booster for us going into the next match which is a hugely important one. It’s a final and we are up against a top side.  We will give our 100% there and hopefully, get through to the trophy.”

Last year, the final match of the US Open Cup was played between Real Salt Lake and D.C. United with the latter managing to achieve glory after an intense battle. This time around, neither of these two sides is in the final. It’s Seattle Sounders that will be taking on the Philadelphia Union in Chester.