Ianni's dynamite 'bike' leads Sounders past Dynamo 2-1

Rick Morrison catches the Patrick Ianni bicycle kick goal sequence.

See our exclusive PHOTOS and match TALKING POINTS entry HERE.

Seattle Sounders FC 2, Houston Dynamo 1 (Sounders FC Press release.)

SEATTLE— Patrick Ianni’s goal in the opening minute of the second half gave the Seattle Sounders FC its first comeback win, 2-1, over the Houston Dynamo before a capacity crowd of 32,404 on Saturday on Xbox Pitch at Qwest Field.

Fredy Montero also scored for the Sounders FC (7-3-7, 28 points), which pulled within three points of the league leading Dynamo (9-4-4, 31 points).

Ianni,  a central defender, put Sounders FC ahead in the opening minute of the second half, scoring from 4 yards on an overhead kick. A corner kick by Freddie Ljungberg was headed on by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado to Ianni, standing at the right post.

It was Ianni’s second career goal and the first in two years. Seattle had been 0-3-4 when allowing the first goal. Houston’s Brad Davis struck in the 12th minute to give the visitors an early advantage.
Montero equalized in the 31st minute with his ninth goal of the season. Off a counterattack, he ran onto Nate Jaqua’s right-wing cross and on his second touch, chipped over Onstad. Mike Chabala, trailing the play, was judged to have cleared the ball just after it crossed the goal line.

Montero has scored in each of the last five MLS games.

A weak Sounders FC clearance led to the game’s opening goal. Davis fired past Kasey Keller from 16 yards after taking a square ball from Brian Mullan in the 12th minute. The Dynamo was unbeaten (9-0-2) in 11 games this year when scoring first.

Seattle was without head coach Sigi Schmid, who was in California attending the marriage of his son, Kurt Schmid. Brian Schmetzer, the top assistant on the staff, served as his replacement.

Seattle and Houston will meet again in 11 days in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal match on July 21 at Starfire Sports Stadium.

The Sounders FC takes a break from league play next week, hosting England’s Chelsea FC in a friendly on Saturday. Kickoff is 12 noon.

Houston Dynamo (9-4-4) vs. Seattle Sounders FC (7-3-7)
July 11, 2009 -- Qwest Field

Scoring Summary:
        
HOU -- Brad Davis 3 (Brian Mullan 3, Dominic Oduro 2) 12
SEA -- Fredy Montero 9 (Nate Jaqua 6, Stephen King 1) 31
SEA -- Patrick Ianni 1 (Jhon Kennedy Hurtado 1, Freddie Ljungberg 5) 46

 
Houston Dynamo -- Pat Onstad, Richard Mulrooney, Julius James, Craig Waibel, Mike Chabala (Erik Ustruck 60), Brian Mullan (Danny Cruz 54), Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis, Corey Ashe, Dominic Oduro (Ade Akinbiyi 62), Kei Kamara.

Substitutes Not Used: Wade Barrett, Tally Hall, John Michael Hayden, Cam Weaver.

TOTAL SHOTS: 10 (Brad Davis 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 3 (Brad Davis 2); FOULS: 11 (Kei Kamara 5); OFFSIDES: 1 (Dominic Oduro 1); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Brad Davis 3); SAVES: 4 (Pat Onstad 4)

Seattle Sounders FC -- Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Tyson Wahl, Freddie Ljungberg (Roger Levesque 89), Stephen King, Peter Vagenas, Steve Zakuani (Sebastien Le Toux 56), Nate Jaqua, Fredy Montero.

Substitutes Not Used: Osvaldo Alonso, Terry Boss, Sanna Nyassi, Nathan Sturgis, Lamar Neagle.

TOTAL SHOTS: 9 (Fredy Montero 3); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Fredy Montero 3); FOULS: 14 (Peter Vagenas 4); OFFSIDES: 3 (Nate Jaqua 2); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Freddie Ljungberg 5); SAVES: 2 (Kasey Keller 2)

 
Misconduct Summary:
SEA -- Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (caution; Tactical Foul) 43
SEA -- Peter Vagenas (caution; Dissent) 64
SEA -- Tyson Wahl (caution; Tactical Foul) 66
HOU -- Craig Waibel (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 71
HOU -- Kei Kamara (caution; Reckless Tackle) 90

 
Referee: Mark Geiger
Referee's Assistants: -Corey Rockwell; Emiliano Monje
4th Official: Landis Wiley
Attendance: 32,404
Time of Game: 1:53
Weather: Sunny-and-80-degrees

All Statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial

Seattle Sounders FC Postgame Quotes

Coach Brian Schmetzer
(On Fredy Montero and Nate Jaqua up front)  “I told Fredy (Montero) three weeks ago that he has to be, and I demanded this from him, he has to be Nate Jaqua’s best friend.  I wanted them to play together.  I think in the first half Montero was a little too far away from Nate at times.  We talked about that at halftime and the second we did a little better.”(On Patrick Ianni’s bicycle kick)  “If you would have told me at the beginning of the game that we would have won the game on a bicycle kick, and I had to pick one of my players that was going to score the bicycle kick, I think (Patrick) Ianni would have been number nine.”
(On the emotions of being head coach)  “Relatively calm because I think we had done all the preparation, that’s one thing I learned Sigi (Schmid) is to prepare for all the games.  I felt I was very prepared before the game so before the game it wasn’t too bad.  After they were up 1-0, there was a little anxiety, a little bit of ‘what are we gonna do?’ I didn’t want to panic either; I wanted to keep a cool head…it turned out to be a good day.”

(On his coaching style)  “My style is to get all the emotions out early, so I was a little upset about giving up the goal and how we gave up the goal.  I didn’t think we defended it as a group or as a team very well.  There were too many guys watching one of our players defending and not trying to help that guy defend…we talked a little about tactics and how we were gonna try and play a little differently, stay composed , keep a little more possession because the field was hot.   It was hot out there and the ball never gets tired so we wanted to make sure we used long possessions to wear them down and create opportunities for us.”
Forward Fredy Montero
 
(On the goal) “That was a good play.  We had time for Nate (Jaqua) to control the ball, I had time to indicate where I wanted it…he found the spot, he found the place.  I had to chest it down, then it didn’t go down so I had to touch it again, and then everything was very quick.  When it was in, I just went to celebrate.”
(On his reaction after the goal) “I had diagonal position, everything happened very quick.  My first reaction was just to raise my arm and celebrate.”
 
 
Goalkeeper Kasey Keller
 
(On fill-in coach Brian Schmetzer) “We knew Brian would handle this with ease, he has so much experience, and the guys responded really well.”
(On opposing goalie Pat Onstad’s highlight save) “It was a great save from Pat.  Sometimes you just run across the goal and hope the ball comes where you can get it…I was telling him before the game I was just happy because it’ s the first time I’ve played with someone older than me on the field.”
 
 
Defender Patrick Ianni
 
(On the game) “It was a good game for us.  We needed to run with these guys and everyone worked really hard tonight.  I’m happy the game gave me a chance and I was able to put it away.”
(On if he’d ever scored a bicycle kick) “Since I was six, no.”
 
Houston Postgame Quotes

Head Coach Dominic Kinnear
(On the game and being shorthanded) “They worked their hardest and that’s all we can ask for when they step on the field. Sometimes it’s a lot to overcome and it was too much today. I think at the end of the game, we were pushing hard and trying to get a result out of it and came close on a number of occasions. It’s a tough place to play and it’s a good team they have. They work a lot of things in their favor and they came out with the win.”

(On the disputed goal by Seattle) “I know for a fact it wasn’t in and I know for a fact that the linesman was out of position. And I know for a fact that it was the same guy that called a goal on us two years ago at Salt Lake and it wasn’t even close to a goal. So I know he’s wrong and I’m sure he’ll watch it and know he’s made a mistake, but it’s too late.”

(On the scuffle during Craig Waibel’s throw-in) “We were trying to take a quick throw and the guy bumped into him and Craig reacted. Tempers rose a little  bit, but it wasn’t too much. They got separated easily enough.”
(On missing players and using a guy like Patrick today) “No, because he’s not on our team, but we could’ve used the guys that we’re missing.”

(On the injuries and this being as bad as it can get)  “Well, you never know. You think you may be clear … we thought we were clear a little while ago. The injuries aren’t really the thing that are hurting us right now. I don’t really like to talk too much about the guys who are missing because it takes away from the guys that are playing. But we are shorthanded, but so are a lot of teams and it’s easy to lean on that as a crutch and say that’s your excuse for not winning games. We try to avoid that as much as possible.”
 (On what he told Erik before taking the field) “Just told him where to go and that we were probably going to move his position a little bit. Just to give us set pieces and go out and play. The message isn’t different from the guys playing all the time to maybe a guy making his debut for us – it’s always the same message: go out and play well for us.”
(On goalkeeper Pat Onsted) “He’s been playing great for us for years and I think he pulled off a wonderful save for us in the first half. He’s a credit to the position and he’s built a nice career for two reasons: he takes care of himself and he’s very good at what he does. He’s a good goalkeeper.”
 
Defender Craig Waibel
(On the fans’ reaction to him) “I guess, all in all, my job is to entertain and if they have an opinion about me, so be it. I’ll put it this way, I’m not many opposing team’s favorite player. I’ve been booed once or twice in my career, if not every year.”

(On the throw-in scuffle)  “I gotta be honest, I’m a bit embarrassed. I pride myself on respecting the game and I think I had a brief lack of respect. By no means am I proud of it. I think I play the game well and with good intent and I think that was a little lapse in concentration and judgment.”

(On the atmosphere) “It was awesome. I went to school here at Washington and grew up in Spokane and played for the Sounders back in 1999 and 2000 … so this is something that I’d always dreamed would be here in Seattle. To come up here and take part in it is fun. I can’t say I wished they would’ve won today, but the atmosphere is fantastic. It’s what soccer is in the United States. This is not a one-off, but a great example of what’s to come. I think other cities are learning. People learned from Toronto and I think Seattle learned from Toronto and it just making it better. I think every organization from here out really has a tough standard. And the organizations that exist, like ours, and that have a great fan base, really have something to shoot for.”
 
Midfielder Brad Davis
(On his goal) “We had a good build up and swung the ball from side to side and played a good combination. He dragged some guys to him and made a good play and laid a good ball up to me at the top of the box and I was able to finish it.”

(On whether or not the missing players would’ve made a difference) “It’s tough to say. You can’t take away from the effort that this team is putting in right now. We’ve been without those guys for awhile and have gotten some results. Seattle is a good team, this is a tough place to come, great fans, Astroturf field, but I mean both teams have to play on it. Either way, we’d like to have those guys back, yeah, but you can’t take away from the effort that the guys here are putting in right now.”