MONTREAL – Laurent Ciman doesn’t care for the Seattle Sounders’ woes.
Ciman’s header on a Marco Donadel free kick in the 88th minute handed the Sounders their sixth loss in seven games as the Montreal Impact defeated them by a 1-0 scoreline Saturday night at Stade Saputo. This was also the Sounders’ fifth straight away loss.
Montreal (6-8-4, 22 pts) thus move up past the red line into sixth place in the Eastern Conference, ahead of Orlando City on total wins. The Sounders (10-10-2, 32 pts) stay put at fifth in the Western Conference.
Ciman won the late free kick himself from Osvaldo Alonso. Donadel’s well-weighted inswinger reached Ciman, who headed past a powerless Troy Perkins, who was playing against the Impact for the first time since leaving Montreal this past offseason.
Lining up without Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins, Brad Evans and Marco Pappa, the Sounders adopted a patient approach for which they were almost rewarded. Montreal enjoyed long spells of possession, while the visitors sat back and tracked midfield runners comfortably.
The Impact found their best open play chance of the game on a rare – by their standards – counterattack, in the 21st minute. Ignacio Piatti picked up the ball in midfield and bamboozled his marker with a smart turn to his right. He spotted Dominic Oduro racing down the left flank and released him for a chance on goal, but Oduro was denied by Perkins' smart save, as he could only win a corner kick with his low shot.
Seattle took a tad more initiative in the second half. They found their best chance 11 minutes in when right back Tyrone Mears took a quick throw-in on the right flank line. Chad Barrett got past a man and crossed for an onrushing Lamar Neagle, making a good diagonal run, but Neagle headed wide.
The Impact still did most of the offensive work but failed to break down the Sounders’ shape from open play. Their best chance came on a rare Alonso mistake in the 81st minute. From the end line, Alonso cleared straight to Piatti at the top of the box. Piatti dribbled around the entire Sounders defense and curled one with his left foot, but the shot bounced off the top of the crossbar.
Ciman rescued the three points seven minutes later.
The Sounders return to their CenturyLink Field home next Saturday, August 1, when they play the Vancouver Whitecaps in Cascadia Cup action. Montreal, for their part, face New York City FC at Yankee Stadium that same day.
