3 things we learned as the Seattle Sounders beat Sporting KC 1-0 with controversial goal

After a wild, dramatic, controversial, and hard-fought match, the Seattle Sounders are advancing in the MLS Cup Playoffs after a 1-0 triumph over Sporting KC, a match that went all the way to the wire before Nelson Valdez played the unlikely hero in scoring an 88th-minute winner.

It was a match played with great intensity from first minute to last, with Sporting KC coming out swinging, Seattle responding well, and then the two teams going blow for blow all match long. There were plenty of tense moments, between near misses in attack, spectacular saves in defense, and numerous moments when one team or the other would get infuriated with referee Ismail Elfath.

One such heated moment came early in the second half when Sounders midfielder Osvaldo Alonso, already sitting on a yellow card after a chippy first half, slid through Sporting midfielder Benny Feilhaber, sending the former U.S. international tumbling to the turf. Sporting players swarmed Elfath demanding that Alonso be shown a second yellow card, but Elfath waved their protests away and restarted the game. Two minutes later, after a Sounders attack fizzled out with Alonso skying a shot from well outside the box, Feilhaber came unglued on the pitch, charging at Elfath and screaming at him before being restrained by his teammates and being booked for his behavior.

Elfath and his refereeing crew were the center of much of the match’s attention after that, with both the referee and his assistants making numerous questionable decisions against both teams and at both ends of the pitch. The biggest one, and the one that will dominate the conversation about this match in the coming days, is also the decision that won the game for Seattle.

Substitute Nelson Valdez flicked a header in past Sporting KC goalkeeper Tim Melia to give the Sounders a 1-0 lead in the 88th minute of the match, and as CenturyLink Field exploded into celebration, one question started to pop up among observers: Was he offside? Replays certainly made it look as though Valdez was noticeably offside when the ball was sent in from Joevin Jones, but the assistant referee’s flag stayed down, and the Sounders took that goal and ran away with a 1-0 win.

No matter what you think of the legitimacy of the result or the quality of the refereeing, it’s impossible to ignore that this match was incredible. Both teams left absolutely everything out on the pitch, throwing everything they could at one another to find any advantage they could. In the end, it was the Seattle Sounders left celebrating while Sporting KC walked off in anger, and FC Dallas now know who they’ll be preparing for in the next round. The MLS Cup Playoffs have certainly been exciting so far, haven’t they?

Seattle Sounders: Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Roman Torres, Chad Marshall, Joevin Jones; Osvaldo Alonso, Erik Freiberg (Nelson Valdez 79’); Cristian Roldan, Nicolas Lodeiro, Alvaro Fernandez (Brad Evans 85’); Jordan Morris

Goals: Valdez (88’)

Sporting KC: Tim Melia; Saad Abdul-Salaam, Kevin Ellis, Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic (Jimmy Medranda 90’); Benny Feilhaber, Sony Mustivar, Paulo Nagamura (Jacob Peterson 90’+2); Graham Zusi, Dom Dwyer, Roger Espinoza

Goals: None

Earlier on Thursday, we saw D.C. United start slow at home and wind up getting absolutely battered by the Montreal Impact because of it. So when Seattle got off to a nervy start of their own many fans were, rightfully, concerned that they were about to see a repeat.

Fortunately for Sounders fans, that didn’t prove to be the case. Seattle responded very well to their early struggles, making tactical adjustments in terms of what they were trying to do in defense and how they moved the ball through midfield. They were never fully on top of the run of play, but they were able to run a few spells when they were creating regular threats on goal, and evened the match out significantly after a lopsided start.

Many expected Sporting to sit back and play more conservatively in this match, but instead they came out swinging. They pressed Seattle’s midfield aggressively and looked like the team more likely to score early in the match. They used the energy of the night and the occasion to its fullest advantage, shocking Seattle early and forcing them to make dramatic changes to their game plan.

Even after the match settled down a bit and Seattle grew into the game, Sporting continued to impress as they went toe to toe with arguably the hottest team in MLS right now. They lost, but only by the narrowest of margins — and only thanks to a goal that appeared to be offside.

If you’re going to take one thing away from this match, make it this: Stefan Frei is one of the best goalkeepers in MLS. He made eight saves on the night and on several occasions kept Seattle in the game at times when they otherwise would have gone behind, including this massive stop on Feilhaber late in the game after his defense got torched:

The simple fact is this: The Seattle Sounders would not have won this match if not for Stefan Frei. Well, they wouldn’t have won without the questionable goal from Nelson Valdez either, but that call wouldn’t have mattered if it wasn’t for Frei having an absolutely stunning night in goal at the other end of the pitch.