SEATTLE — After conceding the opening goal to Toronto FC captain Dwayne De Rosario, the Seattle Sounders scored three straight on their way to a 3-2 victory on Saturday at Qwest Field. Chad Barrett’s 88th-minute goal for the visitors put the final result in doubt, but it was not enough to prevent the Reds from slumping to their ninth loss on the road this year.
Steve Zakuani, Blaise Nkufo, and Sanna Nyassi scored for the Sounders, who look to be securely in the playoffs with 42 points and three games remaining.
Toronto, meanwhile, are stuck on 31 points with only three matches left. Even if the Canadians win out, a win or two draws from San Jose in any of their remaining games would eliminate Toronto from the postseason.
Coming into the match eight points from the final playoff spot, the Reds had to press for a victory. They looked eager early as De Rosario, who started in the midfield for this crucial match, made the first breakthrough.
After Maicon Santos showed great strength to hold Patrick Ianni at bay, he slipped a through ball behind the Sounders defense to De Rosario. The TFC captain took a couple touches before slipping the shot inside Kasey Keller’s near post in the 16th minute.
Seattle then equalized five minutes later. Osvaldo Alonso slid a throughball behind Toronto’s defense to a streaking Zakuani. The midfielder’s first touch rounded the goalkeeper, his second found the back of the net. For Zakuani, it was his ninth goal of the season.
The Sounders added a second another five minutes later through Nkufo. After Chad Barrett earned a yellow card for a foul on James Riley along the sideline, an unmarked Nkufo headed in Nathan Sturgis’ free kick from eight yards out. After a slow start in MLS, Nkufo now has five goals in the past three league matches.
Toronto tried to respond in the second half, but the Reds’ attack was disjointed and failed to make much headway.
TFC’s hole got deeper when Nyassi added Seattle’s third. A poorly cleared cross bounced out to Nyassi at the top of the area, and the Gambian midfielder ripped his shot into the net for his first goal of the season.
Barrett’s late strike—a header off a pass from substitute Nicholas Lindsay—gave Toronto life, but TFC were unable to find the tying goal in the dying minutes.
The Sounders now turn their attention to the US Open Cup final on Tuesday. Toronto, their playoff hopes fading quickly, play Chivas USA next Saturday.
Scoring Summary:
TOR -- Dwayne De Rosario 13 (Maicon Santos 2) 16
SEA -- Steve Zakuani 9 (Osvaldo Alonso 3, Jeff Parke 1) 21
SEA -- Blaise Nkufo 5 (Nathan Sturgis 2) 26
SEA -- Sanna Nyassi 1 (unassisted) 59
TOR -- Chad Barrett 7 (Nicholas Lindsay 1, O'Brian White 4) 88
Misconduct Summary:
TOR -- Chad Barrett (caution; Reckless Tackle) 25
TOR -- Dan Gargan (caution; Reckless Tackle) 34
TOR -- Maicon Santos (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 63
Toronto FC -- Stefan Frei, Dan Gargan, Adrian Cann, Nana Attakora (Nick Garcia 45), Ty Harden, Dwayne De Rosario, Julian de Guzman, Nick LaBrocca (O'Brian White 80), Jacob Peterson (Nicholas Lindsay 61), Maicon Santos, Chad Barrett.
Substitutes Not Used: Raivis Hscanovics, Fuad Ibrahim, Maksim Usanov, Jon Conway.
Seattle Sounders -- Kasey Keller, James Riley, Patrick Ianni, Jeff Parke, Leo Gonzalez, Sanna Nyassi (Alvaro Fernandez 68), Osvaldo Alonso, Nathan Sturgis, Steve Zakuani, Fredy Montero, Blaise Nkufo (Nate Jaqua 77).
Substitutes Not Used: Roger Levesque, Tyrone Marshall, Zach Scott, Mike Seamon, Kevin Guppy.
Referee: Mark Geiger
Referee's Assistants: Cameron Blair; Frank Anderson
4th Official: Ramon Hernandez
Attendance: 36,079
