Brian Schmetzer believes the Seattle Sounders are in control of their playoff destiny after edging out the Houston Dynamo in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.
After a goalless encounter, the Sounders held their nerve in the shootout, scoring all five spot-kicks before Erik Sviatchenko's miss proved costly.
They also stopped their opponents from registering a single shot on target, marking the fourth time the Sounders have achieved that milestone in a playoff match, and will be looking to do the same in their second encounter.
"Right now it doesn't matter how we played, really. We're in control and we won,” Schmetzer said. "This was going to be a tight series because the two teams are very good defensively.
"We've had our challenges this year sometimes scoring goals. Did we create enough? Those are all valid questions. Again, I would just repeat that those guys put the effort in. We were close on a couple of occasions."
Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei is also on the verge of history, with his shutout in the first game his 14th playoff clean sheet, needing one more to go level with LA Galaxy’s Kevin Hartman for the MLS record.
"Stef has an opportunity in Houston to tie for number one [all-time]," Schmetzer pointed out.
"So that's a goal that he can reach, he can attain, and let's see if he can do that. Because that would give us the best chance of ending the series in Houston."
For Houston, meanwhile, their cruel defeat in Game 1 was partly down to their own doing, so says head coach Ben Olsen.
The Dynamo boss acknowledged his side did not do enough in the final third, not helped by Adalberto Carrasquilla’s red card, which will see him miss the upcoming encounter.
Though the performance did not come as a surprise to Olsen, given the two sides’ defensive record in the regular season, he wants to see improvements at the Shell Energy Stadium this time around.
“It was hardly surprising. They are the best defensive team in the league. We are also one of the better defensive teams in the league, but then you add the playoffs to it,” Olsen said.
“It’s a heightened game of being alert defensively. You have these kind of games in the playoffs. We didn’t do enough to create better opportunities for ourselves to win that game.
“Some of that is our doing, some of it is that we’re playing a good defensive team. I said this leading up to the game, we are not going to get a lot of chances.
“We may get a few big ones and you have to finish them. It will be a similar situation at home, they are not going to turn into a bad defensive team overnight.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Houston Dynamo – Amine Bassi
In a team that is not filled with goals, Bassi has impressed for Houston, with his 10 goal involvements (three goals, six assists) in the regular season, a total only bettered by Ibrahim Aliyu (10) for the Dynamo.
The Moroccan also created more chances (79) than any of his team-mates, and his creative flair will be needed to unlock the Sounders’ defence.
Seattle Sounders – Albert Rusnak
Rusnak has played a starring role for Seattle this term, with only Jordan Morris (17) scoring more goals in the regular season for the Sounders than the Slovakian.
Despite not hitting the back of the net in Game 1, Rusnak notched four goal involvements (two goals, two assists) in three games heading into the postseason.
MATCH PREDICTION: HOUSTON DYNAMO WIN
The Dynamo have lost only two of their 18 all-time home playoff matches (W12 D4), though one of those defeats was against Seattle in the 2017 Conference Finals. Houston won nine of their first 10 home playoff matches but have won just three of eight since (D4 L1).
Seattle, however, have won six of their last seven away matches, including the last three in a row, all with clean sheets. This is the second time they have kept three straight away clean sheets in all competitions since joining MLS in 2009, also doing so between June and July 2011.
They have also lost only two of their last 23 matches against the Dynamo in all competitions, including securing a shootout win after a scoreless draw at home in Game 1. Houston have also failed to score in 12 of their last 18 meetings with the Sounders.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Houston Dynamo – 42.1%
Draw – 26.7%
Seattle Sounders – 31.2%
Campion College, Hydel book quarterfinal berths as former champions STGC, Wolmer's Boys, STATHS miss out
Campion College and Hydel High booked their spots in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup quarterfinal round after both registered 1-0 wins over St Jago and Wolmer’s Boys in their respective second round group encounters on Friday.
The win for Campion College saw them finish second in Group One on six points, behind reigning champions Mona High, who blanked many times champion St George’s College 3-0 to finish on maximum nine points.
St George’s placed third on three points and missed out on the quarterfinal along with St Jago, who ended without point. However, both will have a shot at the Walker Cup knockout title.
The same is true for perennial semi-finalist St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) and 10-time winners Wolmer's Boys, who were both eliminated from the Manning Cup.
Wolmer’s Boys’ loss to Hydel saw them finish at the foot of Group Three with a point, while STATHS’ 1-0 win over group winners Kingston College was not enough to see them through. They finished third on four points, as Kingston College and Hydel took the top two spots with six points each.
Kingston College, Campion College, Mona High and Hydel are joined by Group Four leaders St Catherine (six points) and Group Two leaders Excelsior (six points) in the quarterfinal, with Jamaica College, Tivoli Gardens and Eltham on the hunt for the other two spots.
Friday’s results
Campion College 1, St Jago 0
Mona High 3, St George’s College 0
Hydel High 1, Wolmer’s Boys 0
STATHS 1, Kingston College 0
Saturday’s fixtures
St Catherine vs Jamaica College
Calabar vs Charlie Smith
Excelsior vs Jonathan Grant
Tivoli Gardens vs Eltham
*All games are scheduled for 3:00pm
Stuttgart stalemate delivered 'most complete' display, insists Alonso
Xabi Alonso believes Bayer Leverkusen delivered their most complete performance in the Bundesliga despite being held to a goalless draw against Stuttgart on Friday.
Leverkusen missed the chance to close the gap at the summit of the league table, despite dominating proceedings at the BayArena throughout.
The hosts twice struck the woodwork in either half through Edmond Tapsoba and Victor Boniface, while Florian Wirtz was denied by a wonderful stop from Alexander Nubel late on.
Leverkusen ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.19 compared to Stuttgart's 0.28, further emphasising the superiority they had over their opponents.
The result saw Alonso's side produce their second-highest underperformance in terms of their xG since the Spaniard took over the club in 2022, though the Leverkusen boss was happy with his side's display.
"We are unhappy. We thought we had done enough to win it," Alonso said. "We pressed well. Our players showed a lot of energy to press a lot.
"We created a lot of chances in the first half. But we also had chances in the second half."
"Maybe the most complete performance from us even though we did not score. It was a top game.
"From Monday we focus on Liverpool. A big game, to play in Anfield," said the former Liverpool player.
But Leverkusen's struggles away from home continued. Alonso's side have now just won one of their last five league games, drawing the other four.
They remained third in the Bundesliga table, but are now four points behind RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich, who now both have a game in hand.
"It is still early in the season," Alonso said when asked about the growing gap with the league leaders. "There are enough games. We want to keep going."
Morris confident Luton's 'ruthless streak' will return after West Brom draw
Carlton Morris is confident that Luton Town's "ruthless streak" will return after they came from a goal down to secure a 1-1 draw with West Brom on Friday.
Having dominated the first half at Kenilworth Road, the Hatters found themselves behind when Josh Maja neatly flicked Karlan Grant's cross beyond Thomas Kaminski.
But Luton drew level on the hour-mark when Tahith Chong picked off Alex Mowatt's loose pass before driving a low strike into the far corner.
The visitors did, however, have a chance to snatch all three points two minutes from time, but substitute Devante Cole saw his acrobatic effort brilliantly saved by Kaminsiki.
Luton remain just outside the relegation zone on goal difference, and have now just picked up five points from an available 21 in their last seven games.
Rob Edwards' side have also scored just 15 times this term, but Morris, who scored eight times in the Premier League last season, believes it is only a matter of time before they put their chances away.
"I think it's another excellent performance from us at home. It's three on the bounce now for performances we can be proud of," Morris told Sky Sports.
"It would just be nice to bring the points as well.
"We're getting the balls in the right areas so much, it's just that bit of quality, that ruthless streak at the end that we're missing at the moment. But it will come."
For West Brom, it is now five consecutive draws in the Championship, with their fine start to the campaign briefly halted.
The Baggies remain in the play-off picture, but could drop out of the top six over the weekend if Blackburn Rovers, Watford and Norwich City win their games.
Carlos Corberan's side managed just three shots on target from the 10 attempts they had, accumulating an expected goals (xG) total of 0.73, but the West Brom boss said mistakes ultimately cost his side.
"I think in general it was difficult to impose our identity today. We knew that they would be aggressive in the press when we had the ball in our half," Corberan said.
"But for me, we didn't find a way in the first-half to create the game we wanted to create. That was to play the game in the attacking half.
"In the second-half, the team went on the pitch with the idea to see if we could correct it and play better.
"We tried to play from the back but we lost the ball and they scored the goal. They created the mistake with aggressiveness.
"And then in the end, the reaction of the team, we tried to go for the result we wanted to achieve. But in general, it's a game we didn't do many things to get more than a point.
"We didn't manage the game well enough to achieve a positive result."
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