Editor's Note: SoundersFC.com is counting down the Top 10 Stories of the Year in December, recognizing the top storylines on and off the field in 2015. In the latest installment, we look back at another incredible season by Obafemi Martins.
Obafemi Martins cradled Andy Rose’s looping 40-yard pass with his left foot and shuttled it under his legs. Almost as quickly, he spun between two Colorado Rapids defenders, split them and then finished with his third touch to the left side.
Jaw-dropping madness for most, yes, but just another day up top for the back-flipping virtuoso, whose 2015 was as incendiary as ever for Sounders FC.
Martins battled injuries over the summer after a promising start that saw him score seven goals by June 14, including that moment of sheer beauty against the Rapids (above). But an injury he suffered two days later in a U.S. Open Cup game knocked him out of action for the next two months, and when he returned it was anyone’s guess as to whether he’d be able to pick up his pace again.
Turns out it was no problem.
Martins was red-hot over the final three-plus months of the Sounders’ season, scoring eight goals in 10 regular season matches from Aug. 16 to Oct. 25. That included a crowd-pleasing two-goal performance in his return, a 4-0 win over Orlando City in August that heralded the return to form of one of the league’s attacking luminaries up top.
How critical was Martins? Only eight players in MLS in 2015 contributed a higher percentage of their team’s total goal tally than Martins’ 30 percent. And when he caught fire, he was nearly impossible to slow. From the win over the Portland Timbers on Aug. 30 to the 3-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps on Aug. 19, Martins scored goals in four consecutive games, a stretch during which Seattle was 3-0-1.
And Martins’ propensity to score mad goals continued apace. There was the wild 360-degree spin-to-far post finish to beat the Houston Dynamo on April 4. Or his fantastic one-two with Lamar Neagle to down Orlando City on Aug. 16. Or his beautifully controlled trap-and-blast from inside the six against FC Dallas on June 13.
Another year to remember for the Nigerian wonder-striker.
