SEATTLE, Wash. - Seattle Sounders FC (9-3-2, 29 points) won its fifth consecutive home match with a 4-0 result over Real Salt Lake (6-1-6, 24 points) Saturday afternoon on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field.
Gonzalo Pineda, Marco Pappa, Chad Barrett and Obafemi Martins each scored as Seattle dealt Real Salt Lake its first loss of the season. Sounders FC remains in first place in the race for the Supporters' Shield with 29 points, five points ahead of RSL.
Seattle's first goal came from Pineda's penalty kick in the 42nd minute. Aaron Maund fouled Neagle from behind in the penalty area during a scramble for the ball. Pineda converted his second goal of the season with a strike to the left side of the net.
In the 55th minute, Seattle extended the lead to 2-0 with a curling free kick by Pappa. Brad Evans was fouled while cutting across field to set up Pappa's set piece, which snuck inside the right post for his first goal of the season.
Seattle pushed its lead to 3-0 with a goal by Barrett in the 63rd minute. On a counterattack, Neagle took the ball down the right side of the field and crossed to Barrett in the box, who received the pass and struck a shot that was deflected into the net for his third goal of the season.
In the 90th minute, Kenny Cooper crossed a low ball to a streaking Martins, who tapped it into an empty-net from close range for his sixth goal of the season.
Stefan Frei recorded his fourth shutout of the season, making just one save on a shot from Olmes Garcia in the 72nd minute. Seattle has kept a clean sheet in its past two home games, including a 1-0 win against San Jose on May 17.
Sounders FC plays Chicago Fire next Saturday, June 7, at 5:30 p.m. PT at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill.
Scoring Summary:
SEA - Gonzalo Pineda (penalty) 42'
SEA - Marco Pappa 55'
SEA - Chad Barrett (Lamar Neagle) 62'
SEA - Obafemi Martins (Kenny Cooper) 90'
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei, Brad Evans, Chad Marshall, Zach Scott, Leo Gonzalez, Lamar Neagle (Dylan Remick 75'), Osvaldo Alonso, Gonzalo Pineda (Andy Rose 90'), Marco Pappa, Obafemi Martins, Chad Barrett (Kenny Cooper 67')
Substitutes Not Used: Marcus Hahnemann, Jalil Anibaba, Micheal Azira, Cam Weaver
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Martins 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Martins 2); FOULS: 13 (Pineda 3); OFFSIDE: 1 (Scott 1); CORNER KICKS: 3 (Pineda 2); SAVES: 1 (Frei 1).
Real Salt Lake - Jeff Attinella, Tony Beltran, Nat Borchers, Aaron Maund, Chris Wingert (Abdoulie Mansally 59'), Javier Morales, Cole Grossman (Luis Gil 59'), Luke Mulholland (John Stertzer 74'), Ned Grabovy, Olmes Garcia, Devon Sandoval
Substitutes Not Used: Eduardo Fernandez, Rich Balchan, Robbie Findley, Carlos Salcedo,
TOTAL SHOTS: 6 (Garcia, Maund 2); SHOTS ON GOAL: 1 (Garcia 1); FOULS: 21 (Morales 4); OFFSIDE: 1 (Garcia 1); CORNER KICKS: 4 (Morales 3); SAVES: 2 (Attinella 2).
Misconduct Summary:
RSL- Tony Beltran (caution) 43'
RSL- Nat Borchers (caution) 76'
SEA- Brad Evans (caution) 80'
Referee: Ricardo Salazar
Referee's Assistants: James Conlee, Gianni Facchini
4th Official: Tyler Ploeger
Attendance: 39,245
Time of Game: 1:51
Weather: Sunny and 71 degrees
