Sounders come back again to triumph

CARSON, Calif. – The Sounders fell behind in all three games of a long April road trip, yet they will return home having earned two wins and a tie after a wild stretch of dramatic comebacks.

The latest excitement came Saturday as Seattle fell behind early to Chivas USA, only to rally for a 2-1 win, aided by a late red card and fueled by two Clint Dempsey assists in front of 7,499 at StubHub Center.

The Sounders (4-2-1) also continued their dominance in the series, having gone 8-0-4 in MLS against the Goats with six straight wins. When including the U.S. Open Cup, the unbeaten run is 10-0-4, with Seattle having prevailed in the past seven.

With the score tied 1-1 in the second half, Seattle got a huge boost in the 73rd minute when Chivas midfielder Marco Delgado was ejected for a dangerous slide tackle on Gonzalo Pineda.

The Sounders made the man advantage count 8 minutes later when Dempsey set up forward Obafemi Martins behind the Chivas USA defense. Martins chipped in a shot over sliding goalkeeper Dan Kennedy.

The hosts’ best chance for a late equalizer came in the 87th minute, but Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei came up with the crucial save on Luke Moore, who had broken free for a clean shot.

All of the Sounders’ last three road games – including a 4-4 tie April 5 in Portland and a 3-2 win April 12 in Dallas – had a result-changing goal in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Chivas USA opened the scoring on a fifth-minute penalty kick. The Sounders equalized in the 24th minute when normally sure-handed Kennedy spilled a routine ball in the penalty box. It eventually fell to the feet of Lamar Neagle for the gift of a goal.

Dempsey helped set up Neagle to increase Dempsey’s streak to six straight regular-season games with either a goal or assist.