Seattle Sounders Get Past FC Dallas On Away Goals

It didn’t take long for the new “away-goals rule” to make an impact in the Major League Soccer playoffs. Osvaldo Alonso’s 54th minute equalizer at Toyota Stadium in the first leg, was enough for the Seattle Sounders to get past FC Dallas and advance to the Western Conference Final, despite not having won a game.

While the match at CenturyLink Field failed to produce a goal, it was the most entertaining and important nil-nil draws in the Sounders’ history. FC Dallas pushed for the away goal that they needed all match long, but Seattle’s back four held up strong.

The scoreline could have been very different though if referee Baldomero Toledo, was in a different mood. Both teams should have had at least one penalty kick, with Clint Dempsey being dragged down in the box in the second half, and Zach Scott lucky not to have conceded penalties on multiple occasions.

Credit the home side for ensuring the game provided plenty of entertainment, as Sigi Schmid refused to have his team just park the bus and defend. “We weren’t going to play the game scared, sitting back,” Clint Dempsey told NBC following the match. Dempsey and Obafemi Martins looked dangerous at times, but they often found themselves outnumbered in attack, with the Sounders always having plenty of men behind the ball to avoid a lethal counterattack from their opponents.

Oscar Pareja got his tactics right against Seattle on Monday, and if a few things had gone their way, they’d likely be preparing for the Los Angeles Galaxy right now. However, his substitutions in the second half didn’t seem to help his cause, and seemed to make little sense.

David Texeira who had three regular season goals against Seattle this season was left on the bench until the 85th minute, when he replaced Brazilian midfielder, Michel. The desire to get Texeira on the pitch is understandable, but  to take off your most lethal threat from a set piece at such an important time in the match is questionable. The team’s leading goalscorer. Blas Perez, was taken off even earlier than Michel was, as he was unwillingly pulled in the 80th minute.

“You’re probably not going to find much argument regarding the new tiebreaker making its debut in these conference semifinals should teams finish tied on aggregate goals after the second leg,” read an article posted on MLSSoccer.com less than two weeks ago. This will not be the case in Dallas today, where everyone is still struggling to understand how FC Dallas were eliminated exactly.

All in all it was a thrilling couple of matches between these two teams, and it is unfortunate how the “away-goal rule” has already impacted the playoffs in a negative way. While many still believe the rule itself is a good one overall, it is in these types of situations where it will most be questioned. How can FC Dallas not feel hard done by when they played the Supporters’ Shield Champions over two legs and never trailed once, but have still somehow been eliminated?

The Seattle Sounders will now head to Los Angeles to play the Galaxy on Sunday at 5 PM/ET in the first leg of the Western Conference Final. The Sounders ended the regular season by beating the Galaxy to win the Supporters’ Shield and will be hoping to do much of the same in the postseason. The second leg will take place in Seattle the following Sunday at 9 PM/ET.