Pointless in Seattle: Seattle Sounders 2-1 Philadelphia Union

Going away to what is usually one of the toughest places to play in MLS, the Union fell short on the road at Seattle losing by a score of 2-1 late Saturday night.

Quick bullet points due to match lateness and author tiredness:

• Josh Yaro made his MLS debut as Ken Tribbett found himself sidelined due to injury. While Yaro may be given some fault for the match's game-winning goal, it was not an all-bad performance for him. There were some positives for Yaro to takeaway but he still may need a bit more time before he can truly make an impact as a centerback at the MLS level.
• The first goal of the match came off an Andreas Ivanshitz corner kick. He launched one into the box and Chad Marshall found himself completely unmarked in the box. Big mistake. Marshall easily directed the ball past Andre Blake for a 1-0 Sounders lead.
• The Union were making solid attempts at a comeback, but found themselves stifled in the 53rd minute by Roland Alberg picking up his second yellow card. Alberg left his feet tackling Tyrone Mears from behind. Already on a yellow, this mistake proved costly for Alberg as the referee showed him his second yellow instead of a red card.
• The Sounders then went 2-0 in the 71st minute thanks to aspiring USMNT star Jordan Morris. Ivanschitz played the ball into Morris and with Yaro getting beat, Richie Marquez could not cover for him in time and Morris slid the ball past Blake rather easily for the Sounders' 2nd and ultimately game-winning goal. Unfortunately for Blake despite his strong season this may be one he would have liked a do-over at.
• A couple minutes later the Union made the match interesting again. A long Fabinho cross found C.J. Sapong in the box. Sapong, aware of his positioning, succeeded in re-directing the ball to Sebastien Le Toux who blasted it past Stefan Frei to open the Union's goal account for the match. Unfortunately, though, that one goal is all they'd get and they needed two to at least steal a point from CenturyLink Field.
• This was not that awful a match from the Union in spite of Seattle's place in the standings, and it would have been real interesting to see it play out had Alberg not carelessly gotten himself sent off early in the second half. Throughout the first half the Union had controlled possession, though admittedly Seattle laid claim to the better chances of that half. But alas sloppy set piece marking and Alberg's red buried his team in a hole large enough that they could not climb out of it.