CHELSEA DEFEAT SOUNDERS

Seattle Sounders was defeated by Chelsea by a profound margin of 4-2 in an exhibition match. By the virtue of this win, Chelsea started its American tour on a winning note. Chelsea’s Lukaku scored two goals in the first half. He said that he was feeling the heat, but, when you play at such a big stage, there is always a bit of pressure on you. He said that it’s not about the no. of goals that you score, it’s all about the team’s victory and he is very happy that Chelsea started the tour on a good note.

Lukaku scored the first goal in the very third minute of the match. Josh McEachran gave him a good pass and Lukaku didn’t have any problem in sending the ball to the goal post. He beat the defender of Seattle Sounders, Jeff Parke, and helped Chelsea to take a lead of 1-0. Lukaku scored his second goal in the 44th minute of the match. The defenders of Seattle Sounders didn’t perform that well in the match. They continued making mistakes and the strikers of Chelsea took advantage of their mistakes every time. The weakness in the defense position of Seattle Sounders got exposed in the match. The coach of Seattle has to work hard with his defenders because a weak defense can cost Seattle a lot of matches.

Apart from Lukaku, Eden Hazard and Marko Marin were the ones who scored goals for Chelsea. Fredy Montero of Seattle Sounders also scored two goals in the first 45 minutes, but, the strikers of Seattle missed a lot of chances in both the halves. Especially, in the second half, they had some wonderful opportunities to score the goals, but, they were not able to take the advantage. Chelsea’s Lukaku said that some younger players had been given the opportunity to play in this match and they performed really well.

CLOSE ENCOUNTER

Seattle Sounders head coach Sigi Schmid has said that it will be a close encounter between his team and LA Galaxy when the two meet each other on Wednesday night. LA Galaxy are the visitors to Seattle Sounders on Wednesday night in one of the high-profile matches of the MLS season.

However, LA Galaxy’s best player David Beckham is likely to be missing for this match. According to reports, LA Galaxy manager Bruce Arena has reportedly given the former England midfielder time off in order to celebrate his birthday. Seattle Sounders are best placed to take advantage of the lack of the England midfielder according to Sigi Schmid, who thinks that the match will be close.

It has been three years since Seattle Sounders last beat LA Galaxy in a league game. In many ways, LA Galaxy are the bogey team for Seattle Sounders, but Sigi Schmid reckons that the record has to change sooner rather than later. Seattle Sounders have failed to score against LA Galaxy in the last three encounters, which have finished in an aggregate total of 6-0 in favour of LA Galaxy. It is this poor record that has motivated the players ahead of this encounter according to Sigi Schmid.

“I’m happy with us being fired up. We’ll take all the fire we can get. I don’t think you can get too fired up for that. We’re a team that’s been very consistent over the past three years and we’ve started off this season all right, as well. We just want to take it to that next level, and winning games of this magnitude is something that will help us get to that level,” Schmid said ahead of the match. Midfielder Brian Evans also has said that it is extremely crucial for the club to take all three points.

ESTRADA TIPPED FOR FUTURE

David Estrada is fast becoming the best player in the MLS when it comes to scoring goals. He has now scored in his last four MLS season’s, while the season he has four goals from just two matches. The Seattle Sounders were extremely good in the first half against Houston Dynamo. It was enough for them to seal a 2-0 victory over the Houston Dynamos, thus maintaining their perfect start to the season. So far, Houston Dynamo have won just two of the seven matches at the start of the season. Speaking after the match, Seattle sounders manager Sigi Schmid said that he is extremely overjoyed to see the fighting spirit from his team.

Houston Dynamo are team best known for their set piece abilities, but they were undone in the match against Seattle Sounders by two set piece goals, which was the most disappointing aspect for them. David Estrada scored the first goal with a wicked deflection, which he later admitted. Speaking after the match, the striker said that he is extremely happy that everything that he hits is now turning to goals, although he has also admitted that hard work pays as much as luck. Seattle Sounders’ second goal was a penalty converted by Brad Evans.

“Over the course of the season you’ve got to win games different ways. Today was one of those games where you’ve got to roll up your sleeves and you’ve got to battle and persevere. We scored two timely goals,” Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid said after the match. Seattle Sounders are currently second in the Western Conference just behind Real Salt Lake. They are the one among the four teams to have won the opening two matches of the season. Houston Dynamo also remain in the second position courtesy of their defeat.