The Seattle Sounders got a fierce fight from an FC Dallas squad who they fought to a 1-0 victory. IT was a bit of a track meet as both sides ran the ball between the penalty boxes but with all the shots fired only 2 were on target by both teams, and only one mattered as Seattle’s Shane O’Neill redirected a Yeimar Andrade corner kick a header f the game’s only score.
“So very, very pleased for Shane, he’s worked hard all year long,” said the Seattle’s manager Brian Schmetzer. “We actually practiced that set piece, and he and Yeimar did exactly what they were supposed to do. A lot of times soccer players, they listen to the coach but they do whatever they want [in the game]. Actually Shane and Yeimar are very good students of the game. And they took what we did to practice and applied it to the game. And it was a very good play, a very good corner.”
While the Sounders have several bonifide stars such as the Best 11 recipiants in Raul Ruidiaz, Jordan Morris, and Nico Lodiero, it would be role players like Yeimar, Alex and Christian Roldan, and O’Neill winning the day for the Rave Green who now advance to the Western Confrence finals.
“I’ve said from day one that one of the best things about this club is we’re expected to win every game, and I feel like we take that on our shoulders,” said O’Neill, a Colorado Rapids Homegrown who bounced around Europe before returning Stateside for an undistinguished stint at Orlando City two years ago.
“There’s a lot of pressure there but I really love that,” he added. “And obviously now at the business end of things, there’s that same expectation. And these games are tough. These games are a grind. But at the end of the day, we expect ourselves to show up and to win these games, so if you talk about culture, that’s the biggest thing that comes to mind. We’re here to win games and win championships, and hopefully we can do that again this year.”
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