The game in 100 words (or less): Where have the Seattle Sounders — you know, the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Cup contenders and/or favorites from six months ago — gone? And who thought it was a good idea to replace them with this slow, old and disinterested bunch we’ve been watching sleepwalk through the last three months of the 2015 season. With everything to play for on Sunday — a chance for a top-two seed in the playoffs, or the right to host their knockout round playoff game, at the very least — Sigi Schmid’s Sounders laid their latest egg, in the form of a 1-1 draw away to the Houston Dynamo. With one game left to play — at home vs. Real Salt Lake — Seattle need lots of help (two losses by the LA Galaxy, for starters) to finish top-two in the West, and no longer control their own destiny in terms of hosting the knockout round at CenturyLink Field.
[ MORE: East playoff scenarios | West | TFC 0-2 CLB | NE 0-1 MTL ]
Three moments that mattered
48' — Deric out quickly to deny Dempsey — Clint Dempsey and Erik Friberg worked a clever give-and-go at the top of the 18-yard box to spring the former into a one-on-one chance against Tyler Deric. Unfortunately for the Sounders, Deric was up to the challenge, as has been the case all season.
65' — Clark hammers home on the counter — Everyone in the world, including the Sounders defense, was convinced Brad Davis was about to cross the ball to the far post. Instead, the veteran winger waited for acres of space to open up at the top of the 18-yard box and cut the ball back to a late-arriving Ricardo Clark, who finished low and precise for a deserved lead.
81' — Martins with another late equalizer — Obafemi Martins is making a habit of scoring late equalizers to make up for otherwise extremely poor Sounders performances (remember this one?). Andreas Ivanschitz whipped the ball into the box, the Dynamo didn’t deal with it, made the in excusable of letting the ball bounce inside the box, and Martins made them pay.
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Man of the match: Ricardo Clark
Goalscorers: Clark (65'), Martins (82')