Sizzling Sounders rally late against Colorado
SEATTLE – Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid recently decided that his most dangerous attacking group was a young Colombian star, an experienced Argentinean professional, a Uruguayan with World Cup experience and a shaggy-haired forward from Portland, Maine.
It looked to be a perfect union on Saturday.
Fredy Montero scored his third goal in two games with a diving header in the 82nd minute, Mauro Rosales scored off a pass from Montero 2 minutes later and the Seattle Sounders remained unbeaten in their last nine matches with a 4-3 win over the Colorado Rapids.
Seattle rallied twice against the defending MLS Cup champions, getting an early goal from Alvaro Fernandez and Roger Levesque’s goal early in the second half before breaking through for a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes for its sixth victory during the unbeaten streak. Seattle has not lost since May 25 against Dallas.
“It was great that different people scored and different people found themselves in a spot to capitalize,” said Levesque, who scored his third goal of the season in the 48th minute. “That’s just one of the characteristics of this team. It’s not just one person, it’s each day, each moment can be someone else stepping up and contributing and making it work.”
For the second straight game, Seattle scored three times in the second half, putting on an entertaining display in front of a crowd that included Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson. The Sounders will play Man U in an exhibition Wednesday night.
Levesque got Seattle’s rally started when he flicked a cross from Rosales past Colorado goalkeeper Matt Pickens early in the second half. Montero then headed home Brad Evans’ deflected shot to give Seattle the lead, and before Colorado had a chance to react, Rosales sneaked behind the defense and netted his second goal of the season.
Rosales’ goal proved huge as Colorado’s Caleb Forlan scored off a corner kick in the final minute before stoppage time. But the Rapids ran out of opportunities. Colorado got a first-minute goal from Wells Thompson and a goal from Jeff Larentowicz in the 43rd minute, but ultimately couldn’t hold off Seattle’s continuous offensive attack.