The Houston Dynamo fell to Seattle Sounders FC 3-0 on Thursday night during the final leg of the Western Conference Championship. Seattle won the series 5-0 on aggregate goal accumulation to advance to the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Final.
Seattle opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when forward Will Bruin fed a though ball to midfielder Victor Rodriguez behind the Dynamo defense. As goalkeeper Joe Willis came forward, Rodriguez slipped the ball past him into the far side of the net.
The Sounders doubled their lead in the 57th minute when Rodriguez passed the ball to Joevin Jones just outside of the 18 yard box along the left flank. Jones then played a low ball across the front of the goal where he found the right foot of Clint Dempsey, who slid to put the ball into the right side of the net.
Bruin added the third and decisive goal in the 73rd minute as midfielder Harry Shipp fed him the ball through the center of the box, where he lifted it over Willis’ shoulder and into the net.
Dynamo midfielder Tomás MartÃnez had Houston’s two best chances in the first half. The first came off of a chain of passes from midfielder Eric Alexander to defender DaMarcus Beasley, who laid the ball off to MartÃnez, but the Argentine’s shot was blocked by Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei. One minute later, forward Vicente Sánchez crossed the ball to Martinez at the top of the 18-yard box, but he was once again denied by Frei.
The Dynamo went down a man in the 67th minute when MartÃnez was sent off after referee Hilario Grajeda judged him to be guilty of violent conduct against Sounders MF Jordy Delem after consulting video replay. Sounders MF Joevin Jones also received a yellow card during the incident upon video review.
This was Houston’s seventh appearance in the Conference Championship in the club’s 12-year history, and the Dynamo fell to 4-3 in conference championship series.
Houston Dynamo (13-10-11; 2-2-1) 0-3 Seattle Sounders FC (14-9-11; 3-0-1)
Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs – Western Conference Championship Leg 2
Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017 – Century Link Field Seattle, Washington
Attendance: 45,298
SCORING SUMMARY:
SEA: Victor Rodriguez 1 (Will Bruin 2) 23
SEA: Clint Dempsey 3 (Joevin Jones 2, Victor Rodriguez 2) 57
SEA: Will Bruin 2 (Harry Shipp 2) 73
LINEUPS:
Houston Dynamo: Joe Willis; Dylan Remick, Adolfo Machado, Leonardo, DaMarcus Beasley (C); Juan David Cabezas, Eric Alexander (Boniek 46), Alex (Ricardo Clark 78); Tomás MartÃnez; Vicente Sanchez (Erick Torres 62), Mauro Manotas
Unused Substitutes: Calle Brown, Andrew Wenger, Jose Escalante, Kevin Garcia
Total shots: 9 (Tomas Martinez and Mauro Manotas 3); Shots on goal: 3 (Tomás MartÃnez 2); Fouls: 11 (Eric Alexander4); Offside: 1 (Mauro Manotas 1); Corner kicks: 3 (Vicente Sanchez 2); Saves: 2 (Joe Willis 2)
Seattle Sounders FC: Stefan Frei; Kevin Leerdam, Gustav Svensson, Chad Marshall, Nouhou Tolo (Harry Shipp 68); Cristian Roldan, Nicolás Lodeiro ©, Victor Rodriguez, Joevin Jones (Jordan Morris 75); Clint Dempsey (Jordy Delem 59), Will Bruin
Unused Substitutes: Tyler Miller, Tony Alfaro, Henry Wingo, Lamar Neagle
Total shots: 6 (Clint Dempsey and Will Bruin 2); Shots on goal: 5 (Will Bruin 2); Fouls: 8 (Nicolas Lodeiro 3); Offside: 8 (Joevin Jones and Kelvin Leerdam 2); Corner kicks: 5 (Nicolás Lodeiro 3); Saves: 3 (Stefan Frei 3)
DISCIPLINE:
HOU: Eric Alexander (Caution; Foul) 29
SEA: Nouhou Tolo (Caution; Time Wasting) 36
HOU: Boniek GarcÃa (Caution; Foul) 60
HOU: Tomás MartÃnez (Ejection; Violent Conduct) 66
SEA: Joevin Jones (Caution; Unsporting Behavior) 66
HOU: Erick Torres (Caution; Foul) 80
OFFICIALS:
Referee: Hilario Grajeda
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Balciunas
Assistant Referee 2: Corey Parker
4th Official: Alan Kelly
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
