SEATTLE, WASH. - Clint Dempsey scored his 50th career goal for Seattle across all competitions as Sounders FC (10-7-7, 37 points) moved into first place in the Western Conference with a 1-0 shutout win over Sporting Kansas City (9-5-10, 37 points) Saturday afternoon in front of 43,530 fans on the Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field. Saturday's match extended the club's unbeaten streak to eight games (5-0-3), and set a new franchise record for consecutive minutes without allowing a goal (currently at 400), as Stefan Frei registered his fourth-straight shutout. Sounders FC returns to action next Sunday, August 20 with a home matchup against Minnesota United FC (7:00 p.m. PT / FS1, KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360 AM).
Dempsey gave Seattle a 1-0 lead in the 36th minute with his team-leading 10th goal of the season, marking his 50th career strike across all competitions with Sounders FC. Cristian Roldan played Jordan Morris down the right flank, before the latter sent a cross that found Dempsey in traffic for a header past SKC goalkeeper Tim Melia. Dempsey now has 44 career regular-season goals for Seattle, three shy of Fredy Montero's club record of 47. Only he and Montero have reached the 50-goal mark for the club, with Dempsey now 10 goals shy of the Colombian's all competitions scoring mark for the Rave Green.
On the other end of the field, Frei and his backline preserved another cleansheet, marking four-straight shutouts for the Rave Green, dating back to July 23 versus San Jose. The current streak of 400 minutes without allowing a goal establishes a new club record, surpassing the previous record of 379 minutes set from July 25 - August 28, 2010.
Sounders FC returns to action next Sunday, August 20 against Minnesota United FC at 7:00 p.m. PT with a nationally televised broadcast on FS1. Local radio coverage is available via KIRO Radio 97.3 FM and El Rey 1360 AM.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 1 - Sporting Kansas City 0
Saturday, August 12, 2017
Venue:
Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field
Referee:
Baldomero Toledo
Assistants:
Eduardo Mariscal, Anthony Vasoli
Fourth Official:
Henrik Karlsson
VAR:
Allen Chapman
Attendance:
43,530
Weather:
65 degrees and partly cloudy
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA -
Clint Dempsey (Jordan Morris, Cristian Roldan) 36'
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SKC -
James Musa (caution) 27'
SEA
-
Nicolás Lodeiro (caution) 45'+1'
SEA
-
Román Torres (caution) 66'
SKC
-
Jimmy Medranda (caution) 90'+3'
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Kelvin Leerdam, Román Torres, Chad Marshall, Joevin Jones; Cristian Roldan, Gustav Svensson, Nicolás Lodeiro - captain, Clint Dempsey (Nouhou 87'), Jordan Morris (Lamar Neagle 90'+1'); Will Bruin (Osvaldo Alonso 59')
Substitutes not used: Tyler Miller, VÃctor RodrÃguez, Tony Alfaro, Jordy Delem
Total shots:
15 (Dempsey, 4)
Shots on goal:
5 (Dempsey/Roldan, 2)
Fouls:
11 (Torres, 3)
Offside:
6 (Lodeiro, 3)
Corner-kicks:
6 (Lodeiro, 6)
Saves:
3 (Frei, 3)
Sporting Kansas City - Tim Melia; Saad Abdul-Salaam, Erik Palmer-Brown, Matt Besler - captain, Seth Sinovic; James Musa, Soni Mustivar (Benny Feilhaber 63'), Jimmy Medranda, Gerso Fernandes (Cristian Lobato 72'), Daniel Salloi; Soony Saad (Latif Blessing 60')
Substitutes not used: Andrew Dykstra, Ilie Sanchez, Diego Rubio, Roger Espinoza
Total shots:
8 (Fernandes, 2)
Shots on goal:
3 (Three players, 1)
Fouls:
13 (Three players, 2)
Offside:
1 (Fernandes, 1)
Corner-kicks:
3 (Saad, 3)
Saves:
4 (Melia, 4)
MATCH NOTES
- With 37 points (10-7-7), Sounders FC sits atop the Western Conference table, even with points with Sporting Kansas City but holding the total wins tiebreaker. 10 matches remain in the 2017 campaign.
- Sounders FC currently has an eight-match unbeaten streak (5-0-3), with the club's last regular-season loss coming on June 17. The current mark is one shy of the club record of nine set from May 28 - July 16, 2011.
- With Saturday's win, Seattle became the first team in the Western Conference to record 10 wins in 2017.
- Seattle leads the all-time series with SKC 8-5-3, including a 4-2-2 mark at CenturyLink Field. Saturday's result snapped a six-match winless run (0-4-2) in regular-season action against Sporting.
- With the opening strike for Seattle, Clint Dempsey now has six goals in his last five games and leads the team with 10 tallies on the season. His 44 career regular-season goals for Seattle are now three shy of Fredy Montero's all-time club record. The goal was also Dempsey's 50th across all competitions for Seattle (44 in regular season, three in postseason, one in Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, two CONCACAF Champions League).
- With the loss, Sporting Kansas City snapped a 13-match unbeaten streak across all competitions since the start of June, tied for the club record first set in 2012.
- Sounders FC set a new club record for consecutive scoreless minutes during Saturday's match. The current streak of 400 minutes surpasses the previous record of 379 minutes set from July 25 - August 28, 2010.
