NEW YORK – Capturing its third consecutive victory and a fourth win in five MLS matches, Seattle Sounders FC (5-2-1, 16 points) secured three points against expansion side New York City FC (1-5-3, 6 points) at Yankee Stadium on Sunday evening in front of 25,384 fans. Obafemi Martins scored twice, with strike partner Clint Dempsey adding another tally, as the club moved into third place in the MLS Western Conference.
Sounders FC has one game in-hand against Vancouver and two games in-hand against FC Dallas, with both of those teams sitting just one point above the Rave Green. Seattle now leads the Western Conference with an average of two points per game. Following tonight’s match, Martins ranks first in MLS with six goals, while Dempsey is tied for second with five. Dempsey is the only player in MLS to score five goals and register four assists thus far in 2015.
Martins opened the scoring for Sounders FC in the 23rd minute of play. The Nigerian slotted a perfectly placed Marco Pappa through ball past NYCFC goalkeeper Josh Saunders at the near post, vaulting the visitors into an early lead at Yankee Stadium.
Following the halftime intermission, the home side applied pressure to Sounders FC, culminating in a Mehdi Ballouchy strike in the 54th minute. Patrick Mullins squared a pass from the left flank to the onrushing Ballouchy, who calmly fired a strike past Sounders FC goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
Dempsey provided the go-ahead goal for the Rave Green four minutes after NYCFC’s equalizer, with Martins supplying a cross to Pappa from the endline, allowing the Guatemalan winger to play the ball to Dempsey’s feet. The Seattle forward claimed his fifth goal of the season by firing a well-placed shot toward Saunders’ far post. However, Dempsey wasn’t finished leaving his mark on the contest, as the Texas-native engineered Seattle’s third and most emphatic strike with a no-look back-heel to a sprinting Martins. The Nigerian burst through New York City’s backline before launching a shot into the far corner of the net from inside the 18-yard-box.
With his brace, Obafemi Martins now has six goals on the season and 31 in his MLS career. He is the second player in club history to cross the 30-goal plateau, trailing only Fredy Montero (47 goals). As for Dempsey, he has tallied a goal or an assist in all six of his appearances in 2015. Overall, he has registered a goal or an assist in 16 of his last 17 matches, including eight consecutive outings, the 22nd time in MLS history a player has reached a streak of eight in a row.
In the midst of a three-match road swing, Sounders FC now turns its attention to Eastern Conference foe Columbus Crew SC, with the Rave Green traveling to MAPFRE Stadium on Saturday, May 9 (4:30 p.m. PT / Q13 FOX, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM).
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 3 – New York City FC 1
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Venue: Yankee Stadium
Referee: Silviu Petrescu
Assistants: Daniel Belleau, Richard Gamache
Fourth Official: Alex Chilowicz
Attendance: 25,384
Weather: Partly cloudy and 68 degrees
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Obafemi Martins (Marco Pappa) 23’
NYC – Mehdi Ballouchy (Patrick Mullins) 54’
SEA – Clint Dempsey (Marco Pappa, Obafemi Martins) 58’
SEA – Obafemi Martins (Clint Dempsey) 66’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
NYC – Kwame Watson-Siriboe (caution) 28’
SEA – Marco Pappa (caution) 39’
SEA – Tyrone Mears (caution) 44’
NYC – Mix Diskerud (caution) 50’
SEA – Obafemi Martins (caution) 79’
NYC – Kwadwo Poku (caution) 85’
NYC – Kwame Watson-Siriboe (ejection) 88’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Brad Evans - C, Chad Marshall, Dylan Remick; Andy Rose, Osvaldo Alonso, Gonzalo Pineda (Cristian Roldan 90’) Marco Pappa (Lamar Neagle 67’); Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins
Substitutes not used: Troy Perkins, Leo Gonzalez, Zach Scott, Micheal Azira, Chad Barrett
Total shots: 11 (Dempsey/Pappa, 3)
Shots on goal: 7 (3 players tied at 2)
Fouls: 13 (4 players tied at 2)
Offside: 2 (Martins, 2)
Corner-kicks: 4 (Pineda, 2)
Saves: 8 (Frei, 8)
New York City FC – Josh Saunders; Chris Wingert, Jeb Brovsky, Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Shay Facey (RJ Allen 70’); Khiry Shelton, Mehdi Ballouchy (David Villa 54’), Mix Diskerud, Ned Grabavoy – C, Pablo Alvarez; Patrick Mullins (Kwadwo Poku 69’)
Substitutes not used: Ryan Meara, Josh Williams, Sebastian Velasquez, Thomas McNamara
Total shots: 20 (Villa, 5)
Shots on goal: 9 (Villa, 3)
Fouls: 15 (Diskerud/Watson-Siriboe, 4)
Offside: 1 (Grabavoy, 1)
Corner-kicks: 10 (Ballouchy, 8)
Saves: 4 (Saunders, 4)
MATCH NOTES
- Seattle Sounders FC improves to 5-2-1 on the season, including three consecutive wins and four victories in its last five matches.
- The Rave Green currently sits in third place in the MLS Western Conference, with one game in-hand against Vancouver and two games in-hand against FC Dallas, with both of those teams sitting just one point about Sounders FC. Seattle leads the Western Conference with an average of two points per game.
- Clint Dempsey has tallied a goal or an assist in all six of his appearances in 2015. Overall, he has registered a goal or an assist in 16 of his last 17 matches, including eight consecutive outings, the 22nd time in MLS history a player has reached a streak of eight in a row.
- With tonight’s brace, Obafemi Martins now has six goals on the season and 31 in his MLS career. He is the second player in club history to cross the 30-goal plateau (Fredy Montero – 47).
- Following tonight’s match, Martins ranks first in MLS with six goals, while Dempsey is tied for second with five. Dempsey is the only player in MLS to score five goals and register four assists thus far in 2015.
- Goalkeeper Stefan Frei is tied for first in MLS with five wins and carries a 0.75 goals against average. His eight saves today match a season-best.
- Tonight’s fixture marks the seventh different lineup used by Sounders FC in the eight matches of the 2015 regular season.
