Sounders top LA Galaxy 3-1 in training debut

Sounders FC faced opposition for the first time and came away from a soggy practice pitch near LA's Home Depot Center with a 3-1 pre-season victory over the Galaxy.

Fredy Montero converted a first-half penalty kick and Roger Levesque (match-winner) and Sanna Nyassi added second-half tallies to pace Seattle.

In his coverage of the match for the Seattle Times Jose Romero writes:

Fredy Montero, Roger Levesque and Sanna Nyassi scored goals, leading Seattle Sounders FC to a 3-1 win in its first match against an actual opponent, the exhibition opener against Major League Soccer rivals the Los Angeles Galaxy on Monday at the Home Depot Center.

Seattle, debuting in its rave green jerseys with white numbers on the back, rallied from a 1-0 deficit. The Galaxy scored three minutes into the match on a goal by Eddie Lewis. It took them a few minutes to build an attack, and when it did, Seattle's speed on the outside made a difference.

Read Jose's entire match report here.



Over at SoundersFC.com Matt Gaschk provides his insider view of the match.

With the footing on the field becoming less and less sure, the game started to get physical.
With non-roster invitee and another former USL Sounder Leighton O’Brien pressing high in the central midfield, Schmid changed the club from a 4-4-2 to a 4-4-1-1 25 minutes into the second half with O’Brien and Levesque playing up top.

The move paid dividends as defender Evan Brown sent one of his many crisp passes found the feet of Nyassi up the right side. The speedy Gambian midfielder crossed toward the goal and it looked like LA’s keeper had snared it, but it fell to the feet of Levesque in front of an open goal and he connected for the 2-1 lead at the 39th minute of the second half.

Photo credit: Roger Levesque during practice. The long-time USL Sounder scored the match-winner to beat LA in Seattle's first-ever pre-season match. (Rick Morrison)

Match photos from Official Galaxy blog