Just Smile and Shrug

After what happened tonight against KC, there is nothing more you can do. For the ten period following the Manchester United drubbing, we were all feeling pretty shitty. I don't think anybody expected the Sounders to keep their pre-United form, but losing to a terrible team from Panama and a motivated Houston team certainly was not expected. Going into the home game against San Francisco on Wednesday night, we all had the right to be worried. Our form was so poor that even the most rational thinking of fans had to consider the possibility that the United game got in our heads.

Thanks to a 2-0 OT win we moved past SF and into the Champions League group stage. It was a nice win, but you had to figure that in going the extra 30 minutes, we essentially killed any chances we had at eeking out a win in Kansas City. Not only would the team be tired, but they would be facing a team that was without a loss in 14 games at a stadium where they had never lost. Certainly the deck was stacked against us.

Yet Sigi decided to go with a very similar lineup to that on Wednesday with Roger Levesque and Servando Carrasco the only changes. Apparently the guys weren't in that bad of shape...or so we thought. The first half was not pretty for the Sounders. They were sluggish and had trouble containing the Sporting attack. Kei Kamara, who I will continue to say is rubbish, scored off a long throw-in the 20th minute. I didn't see the strike until I watched the replay but seeing that they were down 1-0 at halftime I just assumed they were done.

Then things turned in the 59th minute when Omar Bravo took out Pat Noonan with a studs-up tackle and got tossed from the game. It really had no place in the game and started a pretty stupid sequence. First, the KC players ran over to the ref before he even pulled the red card - apparently they thought it somehow wasn't a foul? Then when Noonan got up, Bravo got in his face and starting pointing. At first I was confused as to why he was in his face...I mean, he couldn't really have been suggesting Noonan dove, right? And then my boy Irish Mike set me straight - he had seen red and had nothing to lose. He was trying to bait him into a red of his own. Noonan would have to be an idiot to fall for it...and he almost did. I don't think anyone will argue that Noonan actually hit him (because he didn't) and even worse I don't think anyone can defend Noonan for putting himself in the position to get sent off. Luckily the ref didn't see Bravo because he sold it well. Noonan popped up and Bravo went down like he had been shot. It was a sorry sequence. Then to make things worse, he refused to leave the field for a good minute. It was a really terrible showing by Bravo.

Suddenly I felt like we might be able to escape town with a point. Thirty minutes is a long time to be playing a man up...even if Noonan, Fucito, Neagle, Levesque and Carrasco were the only ones with fresh legs. We started to control the game but when the KC keeper stoned both Fucito and Neagle in the 69th minute I thought the game was over. His second save was one of the best non-hockey kick saves I have ever seen. It was very impressive and deflating to those who were watching.

Then in the 89th minute we broke through. Servando Carrasco played a ball into the box to Rosales. He deftly avoided two sliding defenders, took a touch and fired it past the keeper. We had gotten our tie. Mike told me there was still enough time since there was likely to be 5 minutes of added time after the Bravo incident. I laughed it off. Then no less than two minutes later, we were engaging in the third jumping man-hug of the season. Rosales played a ball into Fucito. It got lost in his boots and squirted out to Lamar Neagle who shot low and hard through traffic to beat the keeper and get us the full 3. It was one of those moments when you start to ask yourself if this is a team of destiny. We have looked dead and come back so many times this season. It is starting to be unbelievable. You just have to shrug your shoulders and smile. We got just stole one.

You know how LA owns us in MLS play? Well, I think it's safe to say that we not only Columbus, but now KC as well. After handing us our first ever MLS loss in 2009 (thanks to a red card by Kasey), KC has not beaten us. All of their losses have been in excruciating fashion, too. First in October 2009, we clinched a playoff birth with a come from behind 3-2 win thanks to goals by Levesque in the 69th and Jaqua in the 76th minutes. In April 2010, Mike Fucito scored the now famous stoppage time goal off a throw-in for a 1-0 win. Later in the season they won 2-1 thanks to goals by Sanna Nyassi in the 66th and Alvaro Fernandez 78th minutes, effectively ending KC's playoffs hopes. Earlier this season Jeff Parke scored off a header in stoppage time for a 1-0 win. And now today, two goals after the 89th minute. It is 5 straight wins against KC and 8 goals after the 65th minute. Simply amazing.

Let's hope they get the job done earlier next Saturday against Chivas. Winning late is good, but it's a risky proposal. Come on you Sounders!

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Btw - It's blasphemous to even type, but Mauro Rosales is uber-close to passing Alonso on My Sounder list. He has been AWESOME this season and if this team somehow wins the Supporters Shield, he will have to be given serious MVP consideration.