This actually wasn't a bad match to watch, pretty entertaining. However, by the time it was over I was just left scratching my head thinking, "now what did I just see?" Really is kind of puzzling.
Neither team really seemed to come out fired up, and most of the opening minutes was spent around the midfield, the two teams seeming to size each other up. However, at this point, if I had to say one team looked like it had more of a killer instinct, I'd have said it was going to be Seattle.
Watch out though because first impressions tend to be, and often are, dead wrong. While not exactly busting the game open, Dallas got their one big chance in the 18th minute and Brek Shea took it, slotting a shot home past Kasey Keller to give Dallas the 0-1 advantage on enemy turf. It also sucked the Seattle crowd right out of the match, as the lead held until half time.
Needless to say, the Sounders weren't really keen on surrendering three points at home, and they came out hard in the second half. As I think of it, I can't really think of one decent chance Dallas even tried to have in the second half. At one point, probably around the 85th minute, they showed the possession stats for the second half and it wads Seattle 73%-27% Dallas. The Sounders were getting some quality looks too, but Hartman was just a rock. At one point, he made back to back saves to preserve the clean sheet, and Dallas took the win by the 0-1 advantage.
So we learn here that home field advantage is nice to have, but you can't depend on it. The fairly early goal took the usually rowdy Sounders crowd out of the game for the most part, and you could sense the frustration really building in the arena. The visiting team must thrive off of that. Dallas certainly seemed to. The crowd about brought the whole building down on Toledo twice in the second half for would be penalties. Far be it from me to stick up for Toledo, but I thought he got both calls totally right. The more controversial of the two came very late as Fucito seemed to be pushed down right in front of goal. Even the usually tame Seattle announcer was livid. Still, the replay clearly shows Fucita shoulder to shoulder with the defender , and it totally looks like Fucita goes down way too easily as opposed to trying to stay with the ball and take a shot. You're not going to get that call that late in a match. Follow Messi's lead and stay on your feet.
I must say that Dallas spent a lot of time on the floor too. Many times, especially in the second half, when a Sounder even touched a member of FC Dallas the Dallas man would hit the pitch like they had been shot in the face by a Navy Seal. It started to get really old.
That being said, good three points for Dallas on the road. For Seattle, they're gonna have to go to the drawing board a bit because the fans aren't going to win them every game.
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