LA Galaxy Vs. Seattle Sounders: A Play-By-Play (and Other Miscellany)

T-180 minutes to kickoff: The Seattle Sounders FC possess a rich history in their three incarnations. The first incarnation for the Sounders took place in ye olde days of the North American Soccer League, from 1974 to 1983. Ah, those were the days. Twice, in 1977 and 1982, were the Sounders denied the Soccer Bowl by the New York Cosmos. Notable players from this period were defender Kevin Bond, striker Jeff Bourne, midfielder and current Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp and goalkeeper Jack Brand.

T-170: During that period, the Sounders amassed a 151-124-3 record and an 18-18 indoor record. Not bad stuff. Fast forward to the second incarnation of the Sounders, who competed in the American Professional Soccer League and USL First Division. This team was much more successful and currently is the most accomplished of its incarnations, garnering championships in 1995, 1996, 2005 and 2007.

In addition, they were winners of the Cascadia Cup in 2006 and 2007. Because of the change in league, the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps will compete for this trophy this season as they did in 2009 before all three teams compete for the Cup next year as MLS members.

Now, the site for the Vancouver MLS team says that the team is as of yet unnamed, but unless you pull a cheeky little force majeure on me, you're not fooling this Yank. I expect the name to be intact, with or without an "FC" at the end, and with a new logo.

T-160: That leads us to the creating behind the third incarnation of the Sounders. Now Seattle could have been one of the founding teams of MLS. But there was no soccer-specific stadium at the time, and 10,000 season tickets were needed. They could only manage 1,300. Compounding issues at the time was the presence of the APSL/USL Sounders.

While 1996 saw the construction of a new stadium build for soccer and American football, the need for a group of investors posed another huge hurdle. Commissioner Don Garber noted, in 2004, that Seattle was very close to earning the expansion team bid that was awarded to Salt Lake City. The owner of the APSL/USL Sounders, Adrian Hanauer, wanted to secure the right for the franchise two years later. And that was passed over because of the increased franchise fees.

T-150: Hanauer had enough of it. He teamed up with Joe Roth, a Hollywood mogul of a producer to make another push for $30 million. That was good enough for Garber, who awarded the city of Seattle their MLS expansion team. Now they tried to provide a fresh start with three new names: Seattle FC, Seattle Republic and Seattle Alliance.

The verdict was in. None of them would work.

Seattle's main soccer team had always been the Sounders, and nothing else. With 49% of the voting public making sure of it, the third incarnation of the club was destined to happen. On April 7, 2008, Seattle Sounders FC was born, drenched in Sounder Blue, Rave Green and Cascade Shale. Did I mention they even have their own marching band? I didn't? Whoops. The Sound Wave plays their own fight song as the supporters march with them to Qwest. A sample of some lyrics by supporter Chuck Davis:

"Passing the ball they move up the pitch

Onward and forward the goal.

They score a goal today,

The fans all shout “Ole !”

The Sounders , victorious today..."

(Source)

T-140: The support was immense from the very first game on the XBox Pitch at Qwest Field. The Sounders set a new all-time single-season average attendance of 30,943. And this is coming from a club that tarps the upper bowls of Qwest to provide a more intimate setting. Not bad work. They sure love their Sounders, the Seattle fans.

In their inaugural home match, they defeated the New York Red Bulls 3-0. For a new club, it wasn't the stunning maiden campaign from the Chicago Fire, but they did garner a US Open Cup championship at the expense of DC United on their home turf by the score of 2-1 at RFK Stadium. Eventually they fell 1-0 to the Houston Dynamo in the Western Conference Semifinals on aggregate.

T-120: That leads up to this afternoon's showdown between the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Sounders. Payback is on the mind's of the league's top club, who are reeling from a 2-0 defeat last year to Seattle at the Home Depot Center. It sure left a bad, bad taste in the mouths of Bruce Arena's men, and some amends have to be made. Last Wednesday, the Galaxy earned their first-ever win at Dick's Sporting Goods Park against the Colorado Rapids. Today, they on a new missionL the quest for the first win at Qwest.

Without further ado, here are the lineups.

LOS ANGELES GALAXY

Manager: Bruce Arena

Formation: 4-4-2

Colors: White tops with blue and gold accents, white shorts, white socks

1 Donovan Ricketts

27 Bryan Jordan ---- 4 Omar Gonzalez ---- 16 Greg Berhalter ---- 2 Todd Dunivant

26 Michael Stephens ---- 7 Chris Klein ---- 11 Chris Birchall ---- 10 Landon Donovan (C)

14 Edson Buddle ---- 9 Jovan Kirovski

Substitutes:

12 Josh Saunders GK

88 Alex Cazumba DEF

7 Chris Klein MID

27 Bryan Jordan FWD

9 Jovan Kirovski FWD

17 Tristan Bowen FWD

19 Juninho MID

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC

Manager: Sigi Schmid

Formation: 4-3-3

Colors: Rave green tops with Sounder Blue accents, Sounder Blue shorts with Cascade Shale accents, Rave Green socks with Sounder Blue trim

18 Kasey Keller (C)

7 James RIley --- 34 Jhon Kennedy Hurtado ---- 14 Tyrone Marshall ---- 19 Leo Gonzalez

3 Brad Evans ---- 6 Osvaldo Alonso ---- 8 Peter Vagenas

10 Freddie Ljungberg ---- 17 Fredy Montero ---- 11 Steve Zakuani

Substitutes:

28 Terry Boss GK

24 Roger Levesque FWD

32 Miguel Montaño FWD

23 Sanni Nyassi MID

5 Grant Wahl DEF

4 Patrick Ianni DEF

12 Nathan Sutrgis DEF

T-110: Other matches going on today include Toronto FC vs. Chicago Fire, Real Salt Lake vs. Philadelphia Union, Columbus Crew vs. New England Revolution, FC Dallas vs. DC United, San Jose Earhquakes vs. New York Red Bulls and Chivas USA vs. Houston Dynamo.

T-100: After this contest, the Galaxy's next three matches include a May 15 clash at home to Toronto, a May 20 road trip to Frisco, Texas to face FC Dallas and a May 29 match in Columbus to take on the Crew.

T-90: Seattle's next three matches include a May 15 road trip to Red Bull Arena ion Harrison, N.J. to face the New York Red Bulls, a May 22 match at Qwest against San Jose and a May 29 tilt at Commerce City to take on the Rapids.

T-66: This match will be televised by Telefutura.

T-60: I want to go ahead and extend my congratulations to a number of clubs: Rangers FC for winning the SPL Olympique de Marseille for winning Ligue 1 and PSG for winning the Coupe de France; Santos FC for snapping up the Paulista, Botafogo the Carioca and Gremio the Gaucho; Bayern Munich for winning the Bundesliga; FC Twente the Eredivisie; Panathanaikos for winning the Super League Greece; and FC Anderlecht for snapping up the Jupiler Pro League.

T-45: We are less than an hour away from kickoff, and I can't wait for this one.

T-30: Other matches going on today include Toronto FC vs. Chicago Fire, Real Salt Lake vs. Philadelphia Union, Columbus Crew vs. New England Revolution, F.C. Dallas vs. D.C. United, San Jose Earthquakes vs. New York Red Bulls and Chivas USA vs. Houston Dynamo.

FIRST HALF START: 1:06 P.M.

1' - And we're off.

2' - First set piece of the day for the G's. Low and deflected.

7' - Filled out the line-ups and subs. Here comes Seattle and another good save for the Big Cat from Montego Bay, Mr. Donovan Ricketts.

8' - Both sides are playing chess with possession early. Some tifo debris on this synthetic surface.

10' - Bruce Arena has gone with a 4-4-2, Sigi Schmid a 4-3-3. A series of deflections, and Ricketts takes that.

11' - Here come the Sounders. Arena is not liking what he is seeing, and I can't blame him.

13' - "SEATTLE!" cries one end of the stadioum. "SOUNDERS!" cries the other. Novel call-and-response.

14' - Offsides on Fredy Montero. You could call that with Braille. Or...a raise of the flag.

15' - Here is a corner for the Sounders. Punched away.

16' - Goal kick. Too long for Ljungberg. The Sound Wave plays, along with the occasional fentoozling vuvuzela.

17' - We are 17 minutes into the contest, and it's a scoreless draw so far. Arena takes careful notes. Some shake-up at the half may be in orde.r Set piece.

18' - Great initial save by Ricketts, but no one to help on the rebound. That was dangerous. Mercy.

19' - Seattle is earning a good deal of the possession so far.

20' - Incidental armball, but it will be another set piece. Well that didn't amount to much, did it? A few throw-ins ensue.

21' - "Press!" asks Sigi Schmid to his men. At this point, putting the pressure on will be most welcome.

22' - GOAL! Los Angeles Galaxy 9 Jovan Kirovski 10 Landon Donovan

Jovan diversifies the scoring portfolio for his first of the season, a blistering one-time volley outside of the box. Landon the Facilitator gets his seventh assist and now, at least at this moment, the masses dressed in Rave Green are silent.

23' - The Sounders are primed to make this a game while those Galaxy boys are out to consolidate before the half. Too high a shot from Cuba's Osvaldo Alonso.

24' - Cheeky foul on Chris Birchall.

26' - So we are 26 minutes into the match and a Jovan Kirovski goal has Los Angeles 1-0 to the good over the Seattle Sounders.

27' - Zakuani is marked, and what a chance by Alonso. Too high, though.

28' - Zakuani is turning into zucchini early this half. That's another offsides.

29' - Too long. That's gonna be a goal kick for Kasey Keller.

30' - It's corner time for Seattle. Let's see what happens. Deflected and saved by Ricketts.

31' - A long trailing ball for KIrovski finds Jhon Kennedy Hurtado. Excellent closing speed in their own defending third by Seattle's #34.

33' - Good defense by Seattle, but Ricketts is not going to let Ljungberg get his time in the limelight.

34' - And Alonso is shaken up. Schmid will have to make a sub here early. He is up and heads back to the bench.

36' - Substitution Seattle Sounders

IN 12 Nathan Sturgis

OUT 6 Osvaldo Alonso

37' - Some early scores here: Toronto leads Chicago 1-0 and Real Salt Lake leads the Philadelphia Union early 1-0.

38' - Yellow card 34 Jhon Kennedy Hurtado

Seattle Sounders FC

First caution of the day.

39' - Corner for the Galaxy. Landon Donovan to take. And Keller had to save that Kirovski shot off the rebound. Not exactly a good one on both counts since that was a difficult corner for Donovan.

40' - Goal kick. And Zakuani can't believe it: he was offsides again. Ricketts nearly had to get off his line, but no need.

41' - Here's Chris Klein. A handball and it goes back to the Sounders. Brad Evans is now offsides. Man, it's been a nonstop offsides party here outside Puget Sound.

43'- Good marking by Brad Evans. Too high a shot for Donovan. Too ambitious on that one-timer.

44' - The supporters wave their scarves around. A magnificent sight.

45' - Two minutes of stoppage time. Be careful Hurtado...he's asking the linesman, "Use your eyes!" With a caution, the Colombian intenation may be pushing the patience of the referee.

45' + 2' - That volley was going nowhere. And Birchall is down. Our match official today, Mr. Kevin Stott, issues another caution.

Yellow card 19 Leo Gonzalez

Seattle Sounders FC

45' + 3' - One more set piece, and that was cleared. It's halftime.

HALFTIME

Los Angeles Galaxy 1

Jovan Kirovski 22'

Seattle Sounders FC 0

SECOND HALF START 2:09 P.M.

46' - The second half is underway, and you can bet that the Galaxy will look to crank the heat up.

47' - Throw-in for Seattle. Ricketts snaps it up. More shots of the Seattle supporters, courtesy of Telefutura.

48' - Free kick time for the Sounders. Incidental contact. Goal kick.

49' - That was a blown opportunity. Top netting. I think Seattle got away with a punch there. Corner on the way for the Sounders. Another save by Ricketts.

51' - Corner time for Donovan.

52' - GOAL! Los Angeles Galaxy 4 Omar Gonzalez Assist 10 Landon Donovan

Well, I warned everyone on my preview that Seattle has a big threat to worry about, and that is someone NOT NAMED Edson Buddle. Gonzalez opens his scoring account for the year, and that's assist number eight for Donovan.

55' - Another corner goes array for Seattle, and another offsides for the Sounders. They're in a big hole. And some arguing on the way as Greg Berhalter gives the ball to Todd Dunivant for a throw-in.

56' - GOAL Los Angeles Galaxy 2 Todd Dunivant

Assist number nine for Donovan, goal number one for Dunivant. It's 3-0, it's a rout, and it has gotten real ugly here at Qwest Field.

57' - Substitution Seattle Sounders

IN 32 Miguel Montano

OUT 17 Fredy Montero

58' - I gotta tell you, this LA Galaxy side wants payback. Big time, and they are dealing it to them.

59' - And you know something, dear readers? This may not be over yet as Ricketts snaps that baby up.

60' - Real Salt Lake makes it 2-0 over Philadelphia.

61' - Toronto now leads the Chicago Fire 2-1.

62' - And here's some cheeky shoving. What will the official make of this?

Yellow card 14 Tyrone Marshall

Seattle Sounder FC

Ah. That's the answer.

63' - Substitution Los Angeles Galaxy

IN 17 Tristan Bowen

OUT 7 Chris Klein

64' - That free kick by Seattle went nowhere. Seattle snaps it up. And just to make things fair...

Yellow card 17 Trista Bowen

Los Angeles Galaxy

65' - Heh. Kevin Stott really wants to steal some of the thunder from this Galaxy side, doesn't he? An L.A. native, he is unafraid to dish out cautions as if they were Christmas cards with all the warmth of credit card statements.

66' - Some fans choose to clap and cheer, others prefer to watch as if this were a funeral on the pitch.

67' - GOAL! Los Angeles Galaxy 10 Landon Donovan Asisst 14 Edson Buddle

As if things hadn't been bad enough, Landon FINALLY gets his first of the season, with Buddle facilitating. Ladies and gentlemen, it's the Buddlevan Connection making a return appearance.

68' - Gracious. Now Edson wants in on the party.

69' - Substitution Seattle Sounders FC

IN 23 Sanna Nyassi

OUT 3 Brad Evans

70' - Substitution Los Angeles Galaxy

IN 84 Clint Mathis

OUT 10 Landon Donovan

71' - Personally, this is music to my ears. The boo birds from Seattle.

72' - Keller had to make that save. Here is Todd Dunivant with the throw. Too long a cross by Bowen for Buddle. LA resets.

73' - Here come the Sounders. Nyassi was not to get to that one. I'm sorry, but he was NOT. Goal kick.

74' - Now what the heck was Bowen doing on that one? Hmmm...

75' - Substitution Los Angeles Galaxy

IN 88 Alex Cazumba

OUT 14 Edson Buddle

76' - Donovan is enjoying this walk in the park. Can't relax too much, Captain; there's still plenty of game left to be played.

77' - All the supporters are now standing still as if they were watching a catafalque do the catwalk.

78' - A cap trick (three assists as team captain) and a goal for Landon. Brilliant. Real Salt Lake makes it 3-0 over the Philadelphia Union. Toronto FC is clobbering Chicago 4-1. This wlll be quite a battle next week.

79' - Now even Fredy Montero is wondering what the heck is going on the team as Ricketts saves that one.

81' - This is just about a done deal for Seattle. The only question is if they will be willing enough to prevent another clean sheet for Ricketts, starting with this corner.

82' - No dice. Cleared away.

84' - Chances for Ljungberg and Montano are stopped.

85' - I must have overestimated Seattle's readiness for this match, as well as underestimated LA's readiness. Mea culpa.

86' - The fans can't wait for this one to end. Some of them still choose to jump and chant. Valiant supporters.

88' - Offsides on Montero. And the boos continue to rain down. This is music to my ears. Mathis tried the entry pass but was stopped.

89' - They will be content to play a little keep-away and melt this clock.

90' - Free kick time. That was off. Three minutes of stoppage time.

90' + 1' - Final scores...Real Salt Lake defeaed the Philadelphia Union 3-0 while Toronto FC crushed the Chicago Fire 4-1

90' + 3' - So the Galaxy say, "All right, you Sounders. You beat us 2-0 at our house last year? No problem, we'll trounce you 4-0 at your house this year. It's only fair, right?"

FINAL

LOS ANGELES GALAXY 4

Jovan Kirokski 22'

Omar Gonzalez 52'

Todd Dunivant 57'

Landon Donovan 67'

SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC 0

Stay tuned for my take on this match on the View and on Bleacher Report.