On Nov. 2, the Seattle Sounders flew south to meet FC Dallas on its home turf, and both squads found themselves at a deadlock in the end, 1-1.
Michel put the Toros ahead first with a penalty kick conversion, but Marco Pappa equalized in the second half to set the stage for this match, the second leg of the Western Conference semifinals, which is available on NBCSN or NBC Sports Live Extra at 10:30 p.m. ET.
[WATCH LIVE: Seattle Sounders vs. FC Dallas, second leg of Western Coference semifinals]
Seattle has won the last four contest against FC Dallas at CenturyLink Field, and at this venue back in May, it was Kenny Cooper who broke the draw in the waning minutes to hand the Sounders a 2-1 victory over Oscar Pareja’s side.
Sigi Schmid and Co. have arguably the most dynamic forward duo in MLS with US international Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins, while FC Dallas’ main attackers, Blas Perez and Fabian Castillo, combined for 21 goals during the regular season.
Holding big postseason implications, this contest decides which team will have the opportunity to represent their conference (West) one step closer to the MLS Cup.
If the Sounders win, they would mark the first Supporters’ Shield winners to get to the conference finals in the past three years. FC Dallas has only made it to the final once in club history.
Lineups
Seattle: Stefan Frei; DeAndre Yedlin, Chad Marshall, Zach Scott, Leonardo Gonzalez; Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Gonzalo Pineda, Marco Pappa; Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins
Bench — Marcus Hahnemann; Djimi Traore, Jalil Anibaba; Micheal Azira; Kenny Cooper, Chad Barrett, Lamar Neagle
FC Dallas: Chris Seitz; Je-Vaughn Watson, Zach Loyd, Matt Hedges, Moises Hernandez; Victor Ulloa, Michel, Fabian Castillo, Mauro Diaz, Tesho Akindele; Blas Perez
Bench — Raul Fernandez, Walker Zimmerman; Adam Moffat, Ryan Hollingshead; David Texeira, Andres Escobar, Kellyn Acosta