The game in 100 words (or less): The Seattle Sounders put in a solid performance to take down New York City FC 3-1 at Yankee Stadium tonight. NYCFC controlled a decent amount of the play, but the attacking duo of Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins stole the show for Seattle. A brace from Martins and another from Dempsey earned the Sounders all three points, spoiling David Villa’s return from injury. NYCFC was forced to finish the match with ten men when Kwame Watson-Siriboe picked up his second yellow card with just minutes to play.
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Three moments that mattered
23' -- Obafemi Martins slots Seattle ahead -- Obafemi Martins scored his fifth goal of the season to give the Sounders a first half lead. Marco Pappas played a great through ball to Martins who got in behind the NYCFC defense, easily slotting home past Josh Saunders.
58' -- Dempsey answers quickly to regain the lead -- Just four minutes after Mehdi Ballouchy knotted the score at one, Clint Dempsey found the back of the net to put Seattle back up. It wasn’t the hardest shot, but it slipped through a defender’s legs and slowly found the bottom corner to silence the Yankee Stadium crowd.
66' -- Brilliant team play leads to Martins’ second -- Few prettier goals will be scored this season, as Seattle channeled their inner-Barcelona for a great team goal. A few quick passes at midfield before a cheeky Clint Dempsey back-heel played Martins in on the break. Another clinical finish for the Nigerian international, who leads MLS with six goals.
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Man of the match: Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins -- Tonight we have two “men of the match,” as the combination of Dempsey and Martins wreaked havoc on the NYC back-line. Martins scored twice to bring his MLS-leading tally to six on the year, while Dempsey added a goal and an assist. The Seattle captain has now registered a goal or assist in eight straight games and in 16 of his last 17.
LINEUPS
New York City: Saunders, Facey (Allen, 70'), Wingert, Watson-Siriboe, Brovsky, Diskerud, Grabavoy, Ballouchy (Villa, 54'), Alvarez, Shelton, Mullins (Poku, 69')
Goal: Ballouchy (54')
Red Card: Watson-Siriboe (88')
Seattle: Frei, Mears, Evans, Marshall, Remick, Rose, Alonso, Pineda (Roldan, 90'), Pappa (Neagle, 67'), Dempsey, Martins
Goal: Martins (23', 66'), Dempsey (58')
