Revolution holds off Sounders FC, 1-0

Fredy Montero sat at his locker stall in Sounders FC's team room, the expression on his face sullen with disappointment and his words tinged with frustration.

The Seattle forward had put in a hard night's work, but it was a match he'd have rather forgotten.

A missed penalty kick. A yellow card that was his fifth of the season, meaning he is suspended for the team's next match. And, adding injury to insult, a shot from teammate Steve Zakuani that hit Montero square on the side of his head as the ball was on a line to the back of the net.

Montero's mood summed up Sounders FC's loss Thursday night to the New England Revolution, 1-0, as the home team went down in the manner in which it has most commonly lost games in its first Major League Soccer season — via missed scoring chances.

The loss had Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid calling out his players to be better, take more responsibility and show more heart and desire to get to the ball around the goal area.

"As a coach, you're going to be disappointed if we're not creating chances, but now it's a matter of the quality of the people in the box," Schmid said. "A guy like Fredy's got 10 goals; should he have 14 or 15? A guy like Nate [Jaqua] has got six or seven; should he have 10 or 11 at this stage? Those guys have to come through and score."

The Revolution (7-6-6) scored first when Shalrie Joseph shrugged off midfielder Peter Vagenas like a tight end shedding a small cornerback before scoring.

Undaunted, Sounders FC (8-6-8) went on the attack. In the 26th minute, defender Leo Gonzalez crossed the ball to Jaqua. No one was on Jaqua, but his shot on goal was wide left.

In the 33rd minute, a corner kick by Vagenas went far post to Patrick Ianni, who was alone near the goal mouth. Ianni didn't get a good kick on the ball, however, and it bounced off the post and out of bounds.

Five minutes later, Zakuani controlled the ball at the top of the goal box and fired, but Montero was in front of the goal and the shot slammed into his head. Montero appeared to be offside.

Montero made amends by drawing a foul in the penalty area while going after a ball. The Rave Green's leading scorer lined up to take the penalty kick in the 44th minute. He approached, paused and fired high. The ball glanced off the top of the goal and went down, landing in front of, but not over the goal line. No score.

The crowd of 32,705 groaned in collective anguish.

Montero, Schmid revealed, was not supposed to take the PK. That responsibility fell to a player Schmid would not name.

"There was a player designated to hit the PK. He needs to stand up and take responsibility for that," Schmid said. "I'll blow up on them [Friday] about that."

Montero seemed to take offense at the idea of a teammate taking the shot.

"I'm the top scorer for the team. My teammates asked me if I wanted to take the kick, and really, I assured them I could make it."

The evening only got worse for Montero. He drew a yellow card for goalkeeper interference in the 54th minute. The caution was costly. Montero will miss Sounders FC's match against first-place Houston Sunday.

Note

• Seattle remains in the running be a host site for the U.S. World Cup bid for 2018 or 2022. The USA bid committee narrowed its candidate list to 27 cities.

Revolution 1, Sounders FC 0

New England	1 0 — 1
Seattle FC	0 0 — 0

First half — New England, Shalrie Joseph 6 (Steve Ralston 6, Edgaras Jankauskas 1) 21. Second half — None. Goalkeepers — New England, Matt Reis; Seattle, Kasey Keller. Total shots — Seattle 11, New England 7. Shots on goal — New England 2, Seattle 0. Fouls — Seattle 11, New England 10. Offsides — Seattle 1, New England 1. Corner kicks — Seattle 9, New England 6. Saves — Seattle 1, New England 0. Yellow cards — Gonzalez, Seattle FC, 40th; Ralston, New England, 43rd; Jankauskas, New England, 47th+; Heaps, New England, 49th+; Montero, Seattle FC, 54th; Reis, New England, 65th; Nyassi, Seattle FC, 86th. Referee — Baldomero Toledo. Assistant referees — George Gansner. Greg Boles. 4th official — Edvin Jurisevic. A — 32,705 (33,000)

LINEUPS

New England — Matt Reis, Jay Heaps, Shalrie Joseph, Jeff Larentowicz, Emmanuel Osei, Sainey Nyassi (Wells Thompson, 67th), Kenny Mansally (Mauricio Castro, 80th), Kevin Alston, Darrius Barnes, Steve Ralston, Edgaras Jankauskas (Kheli Dube, 65th).

Seattle FC — Kasey Keller, James Riley, Patrick Ianni, Fredy Montero, Steve Zakuani, Brad Evans, Osvaldo Alonso, Nate Jaqua (Sebastien Le Toux, 65th), Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Peter Vagenas (Sanna Nyassi, 69th), Leo Gonzalez (Zach Scott, 90th).