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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sounders put out Fire

Advance to Open Cup final against the Union

Matt Pentz Seattle Times

TUKWILA, Wash. – The Seattle Sounders had a full day.

Wednesday morning brought confirmation of the sale of DeAndre Yedlin to English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.

The evening followed with a fifth U.S. Open Cup final berth in six years, as Seattle routed the Chicago Fire 6-0 in the cup semifinals at Starfire Sports Complex behind two goals each from Andy Rose and Kenny Cooper and one apiece from Chad Barrett and Obafemi Martins.

Here are three first impressions from a roller-coaster day:

Yedlin is leaving, but not yet

Yedlin, Seattle native and Sounders academy product, is leaving the Seattle Sounders. The club confirmed what had been rumored since last week: that it has agreed to sell its 21-year-old right back to Tottenham.

But the transaction will not take place until January at the earliest – not until Yedlin and his hometown club make at least one more push for some hardware.

“Our goal is to always position ourselves to challenge for and win championships,” Seattle owner and general manager Adrian Hanauer said in a Wednesday conference call.

For Yedlin, that means gunning for Seattle’s first MLS Cup in a few months.

Seattle showed Cup pedigree

“When we enter something, we’re going to enter into it to do well,” Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said earlier this week.

Chicago has been the most successful MLS club in this competition, winning it a record four times, and Seattle is not far behind, winning three.

For the first half, both sides showed why: this semifinal was crammed with thrown shoulders and elbows, aggressive tackles and hacked-down counterattacks.

The second half, though, was all Sounders. Their effort was personified by Martins’ goal, a sprint past and over the Fire defense in the 79th minute. Cooper poured on his double a few minutes later.

Rose had himself a night

Rose had already hinted at his threat by the time his 6th-minute flick broke open the Chicago defense and landed at Cooper’s feet. Cooper sprinted to the end line and cut a pass back for Chad Barrett, who tapped the ball into the net.

Rose has made just two league appearances since May, but he sure looked at home in the midfield.

Both goals came on feeds from Marco Pappa, the first off a corner, the second in the run of play. Both were headed emphatically into the net.