Sounders Rout FC Dallas 5-0
By Ben Renner
The Sounders routed first-place FC Dallas 5-0 at home last night, but they paid a heavy price with Clint Dempsey receiving a red card.
As I tweeted earlier today, wow. The Sounders eviscerated FC Dallas in front of a crowd over 40,000 strong at CenturyLink Field 5-0. They spread the ball around, possessed the ball, and got five goals from five different players: Clint Dempsey, Andreas Ivanschitz, Jordan Morris, Joevin Jones, and Cristian Roldan all scored for the Sounders, accounting for over a quarter of their total goals from the season.
The five goals were more goals than the Sounders had scored in their previous eight games combined and brought their miserable goal differential to a much more respectable -2, in line with Western Conference rivals Vancouver, San Jose, and Houston. The big win also pulled the Sounders out of last place in the Western Conference.
Things did not go well for Dallas from the beginning. In the fourth minute, referee Ricardo Salazar whistled Maynor Figueroa for a goal-denying handball, resulting in a penalty kick and red card for Figueroa. After five minutes, FC Dallas was down a man and down a goal when Dempsey buried the PK.
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Check out all five goals here. Now for the bad news. Dempsey received a red card from Salazar after he (seemingly) inadvertently whacked FCD midfielder Juan Esteban Ortiz in the face while going for a ball in the air in the 33rd minute. The send-off evened the numbers for Dallas, but the damage was done. The Sounders already had a 3-0 advantage at that point. Dempsey’s red card–his first in 138 MLS regular season games–will cause the star forward to sit out the upcoming grudge match in Portland against the Timbers.
Here’s an idea of how long it has been since Dempsey got a red card:
Honestly not sure how well you can trust SoccerWay on this, but supposedly Dempsey's only previous red was from Red Card Wedding.
— Sounder At Heart (@sounderatheart) July 14, 2016
That bloodbath was seasons and seasons ago. So much has happened since then.
The Sounders will have to keep up the pressure without Dempsey against Portland. For now, though, revel in this much-needed win. The Sounders needed this for many reasons. They needed the five goals after scoring only seven in all previous home games combined this season. They needed any kind of home win after sitting in last place for a week. And they needed a statement game against FC Dallas, which, despite the crushing loss, still sits in first place in the Western Conference.
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It’s time the Sounders found their stride and start to make a run. If they can blow out FC Dallas, they can beat anyone.