Greg Roth / NSS
Seattle's starters came out attacking early, looking confident against the English Premier League powerhouse Chelsea FC. But in the end it was Seattle's first half defensive mistakes that lost the game 2-0 to the visiting team.
“It happened a bit more in the first half than the second and it’s something we addressed at halftime," head coach Sigi Schmid said.
Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge scored the first goal of the game during the 12th minute after he put on the brakes in the box, forcing Tyrone Marshall to skid past him, leaving Sturridge with an easy finisher to the right corner of the net.
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"The thing with them is they got two chances and they finished them, or three chances and they finished two of the three," Marshall said. "They get paid the big bucks and that’s why."
Marshall redeemed himself minutes later when he shadowed Chelsea's Nicholas Anelka on a breakaway to cut off his angle, allowing Kasey Keller to come out of the net and break up the play.
But the defense would lapse again in the 34th minute on what turned out to be a world-class play by Chelsea.
Anelka received a pass to the right of Seattle's box and ran deep toward the goal line past defender Tyson Wahl. Anelka pushed a pass inside the box to Frank Lampard where Jhon Kennedy Hurtado was marking Lampard a little wide to the left. Hurtado's off-balanced slide tackle missed the ball, giving Lampard enough room to give Chelsea a 2-0 lead after he sent the ball unimpeded into the top left corner of the net.
Ljungberg showed why he started for Arsenal in
the English Premier League by creating many
of Seattle's chances. Aaron Weinberg / NSS
Seattle was not without their fair share of chances in the first half. Former Arsenal star Freddie Ljungberg sparked most of Seattle's goal scoring opportunities with his aggressive play.
Ljungberg's best opportunity came late in the first half when a deflected pass came to his feet at the top of the box, which he blasted toward the net. However, the ball may have deflected off an arm or a hand of a Chelsea defender as Ljungberg's shot was stopped short of the net.
Ljungberg had another chance late in the first half on a free kick that made it over the wall. However, Chelsea 'keeper Petr Cech made a diving save to deflect it high and over the net.
"From a European point of view, I think it definitely sends a message out that we can play good against Chelsea," Ljungberg said. "When I speak to my friends back home it’s a lot of questions of ‘what is the level? And how would you play against great teams?’ And I think that message was sent today."
Fredy Montero also had his moments of brilliance, juking past defenders while delivering pinpoint passes, looking as solid as he has all year.
Head coach Sigi Schmid substituted out most of Seattle's starters in the second half.
Kevin Boss came in to replace Kasey Keller in the second half and quickly made an impact on the game by making a reaction save in the 53rd minute after a deflected shot connected with a Chelsea player right in front of the net. The shot went right as Boss dove left but he still made the save by kicking the ball out with his left foot in mid-dive.
However, Boss was not mistake-free. In the 80th minute, he left the box to try to cut off a Franco Di Santo breakaway. A diving Boss missed the ball as Santo chipped it over him. Lucky for Boss, defender Zach Scott bailed him out by clearing the chip shot away.
Scott would continue to pad Boss's stats a few minutes later. Boss saved another shot by Santo, but the ball still deflected past him toward the goal. Scott was there to jam it off the line and out of danger.
Roger Levesque's feed to Stephen King in the 67th minute at the top right of Chelsea's box turned out to be one of Seattle's best opportunities in the second half. King's shot was deflected by a diving Chelsea defender.
“I wish we could’ve gotten a goal – a little better result," Levesque said. "But at the same time playing in front of that atmosphere against a team of that quality is a great experience, great experience for us going forward in the rest of the season.”
The clearest goal scoring chance of the game could have been Sanna Nyassi's breakaway down the left side in the 73rd minute. Nyassi received a pass near midfield completely unmarked as he raced toward the net. 'Keeper Henrique Hilario left the net to cut off Nyassi's angle forcing him to try to shoot it to the right of the net and bend it back in. The ball wound up high and right for a goal kick.
Nyassi had another similar chance in the 87th minute but played a slow cross to Levesque that was intercepted by a Chelsea defender.
Seattle resumes competitive play this Tuesday against the Houston Dynamo in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal match at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila.
Reach Aaron Weinberg at nextseasonsports@gmail.com
