Why Sounders FC finally scored off corner kick

Not much time passes these days before Sounders FC achieves another first.

First game. First win. First loss. And this past Saturday at Chicago, the team's first draw and first goal off a corner kick.

Sounders FC works hard at such plays and on set pieces, or free kicks, in practice. But it couldn't come away with results, be it from the kick directly or from a floater into the goal area that someone could flick or head into the net.

Then came a breakthrough two games ago against San Jose. Midfielder Freddie Ljungberg drew a foul and free kick, and after several touches and the Earthquakes' inability to clear the ball, Seattle scored in the 42nd minute. The following week, it took only one touch to score. Ljungberg was the trigger man on the corner kick against the Chicago Fire in the 74th minute, which cleared a bunch of heads and found defender Tyrone Marshall's foot for the tying goal in a 1-1 tie.

"Because I've had surgery I've had problems hitting the ball," Ljungberg said. "That's why we have changed a little bit [who takes corners], because in the games, sometimes I have pain in my groin because I'm so early in my rehab. It felt better, so I could hit it quite well [Saturday]."

Ljungberg was aiming for the big man in the middle, Nate Jaqua, but the ball sailed over his 6-foot-4 frame as a Fire defender knocked him away. Marshall did his job by coming in from the back side.

"It worked great. When you're a man down, normally it's like set pieces [that provide the best opportunity to score] and hopefully they'll make a mistake," Ljungberg said.

Sounders FC was playing with 10 men after forward Fredy Montero was ejected for a red card.

So why did it take seven games to score off a set piece?

"We continue to work on service [passes to attacking players] all the time. Freddie served a lot of balls in our Friday training," Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid said. "We're just trying to get the service better. It was a good service. He found that second post, the far post, and Tyrone was there to finish it. It's just all about the service, and we'll get better and better."

Marshall said Sounders FC was making the most of what Chicago gave it on that corner kick. "You don't get corner kicks a lot, especially playing with a man down," he said.

As for Ljungberg, his 81 minutes of action Saturday came after traveling to Sweden and back earlier last week for his grandmother's funeral.

"I've been around the whole world," he said. "But it's all worth it that we got the point [for the draw], and it's one of those things that happen in life."

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com