The 30-year-old Spanish professional footballer and Seattle Sounders midfielder has been awarded the MLS Cup MVP trophy, after scoring the second goal in the Sounders’ championship victory over Toronto FC on Sunday.
Seattle came out on top 3-1 in front of 69,274 fans at a sold-out CenturyLink Field, making it the largest sporting event in the history of the stadium and the largest soccer crowd in the history of Washington State.
Despite Toronto dominating possession in the first half, Seattle broke the deadlock after a cross-shot from right-back Kelvin Leerdamdeflected in off the unfortunate Justin Morrow.
Despite the introduction of Toronto striker Jozy Altidore off the bench, Seattle doubled their lead with 14 minutes remaining thanks to a fine strike from the edge of the box from Sounders substitute Rodriguez. And the result was put beyond doubt in the 90th minute, whenRaul Ruidiaz out-muscled Chris Mavinga and finished delightfully past Toronto keeper Quentin Westberg.
Altidore’s goal soon after was a mere consolation for the visitors.
Nicolas Lodeiro is celebrating a clutch performance…
The 30-year-old Uruguayan footballer scored a goal and assisted on two more by Raul Ruidiaz to help the Seattle Sounders advance to the MLS Cup final for the third time in four years with a 3-1 victory over Los Angeles FC on Tuesday night.
Ruidiaz and Lodeiro scored four minutes apart in the first half to claim the lead for the Sounders, who upset the Supporters’ Shield-winning top seed in the Western Conference playoffs with a superb big-game performance. Seattle also beat two-year-old LAFCfor the first time in five meetings.
Eduard Atuesta scored in the opening minutes on a free kick for LAFC, which reached the MLS records for points, goals and goal differential during arguably the best regular season in league history. LAFC then beat the crosstown LA Galaxy5-3 last Thursday for its first playoff victory.
But the Sounders have years of playoff experience that LAFC can’t match, and their leaders led them back to the one-game league final. Seattle won the league title in 2016 and lost to Toronto FCin 2017.
Seattle will either host Toronto or visit defending champion Atlanta United for the MLS Cup final next Sunday. The Eastern Conference finalists meet Wednesday night.
Lodeiro followed up his outstanding performance against Real Salt Lakein the conference semifinal with another dominant offensive game. He set up Ruidiaz’s goal and then scored his own in a blistering sequence late in the first half.
Ruidiaz made it 3-1 in the 64th minute when Lodeiro stole an attempted clearance and fed him for a beautiful shot past Tyler Miller, the former Sounders backup goalkeeper. Ruidiaz, the 5ft 7in Peruvian forward, has six goals in just five career MLS postseason games.
Seattle slowed down the most potent offensive team in MLS history with physical defense, sometimes on the edge of legality. The Sounders committed 12 fouls and appeared to get away with two handballs in their box by defender Xavier Arreaga, but they largely kept the ball away from probable MLS MVP Carlos Vela, who followed up his record 34-goal regular season with two goals against the Galaxy last week.
LAFC went ahead in the 17th minute when Atuesta curled a beautiful free kick into the corner from outside the box. The Colombian midfielder’s goal was only his second since July, but his importance to the LAFC’s two-way play was recognized this week when he was named to the Best XI.
But the North End supporters’ section hadn’t even settled back in when the Sounders answered five minutes later. Lodeiro broke down LAFC’s defense and set up a move and a goal by Ruidiaz, who led the Sounders with 11 goals this season.
LAFC then gave too much space in front of goal to Lodeiro, and the Sounders captain slipped a low shot into Miller’s left corner.
Josef Martinez has kicked his way into the MLSrecord books…
The 26-year-old Venezuelan professional footballer, a striker for Atlanta United FC, scored for the 11th straight match, a Major League Soccer record, and his team cruised to a 2-0 win over the Portland Timbers on Sunday night at Portland’s Providence Park.
The win was Atlanta’s seventh in the past eight games across all competitions, and it vaulted them into first place in the MLS Eastern Conference. With goal differential as the tiebreaker, Atlanta United (14-9-3) took over first place from the Philadelphia Union, though both teams are on 45 points.
The Timbers (11-10-4) missed a chance to move up to fourth place in the Western Conference. The loss kept them in seventh place with the third tiebreaker advantage over FC Dallas, which is total goals scored.
Portland lost for just the second time in 10 league matches in a rematch of the two teams that played for the MLS Cuplast December, won by Atlanta. The Timbers have played three games of a 10-game homestead.
Leandro Gonzalez Pirez scored off a rebound of a blocked shot from Martinez in the 14th minute, and Atlanta took a 1-0 lead into halftime despite numerous chances for the Timbers.
The Timbers couldn’t convert an on-target header from Jeremy Ebobisse, saved by Brad Guzan in the 42nd minute, and had an apparent goal nullified by an offside call.
Atlanta United was close to a 2-0 lead in extra time of the first half, but Steve Clark stopped Ezequiel Barco‘s breakaway shot. They took the 2-0 lead 45 seconds into the second half when Martinez chipped an open shot past Clark after a pinpoint assist from Julian Gressel.
Martinez raised his season goal total to 21.
Portland defenderJulio Cascante had a header miraculously saved by Guzan, who had five saves, in the 64th minute.
Josef Martinez has etched his name into the annals of soccer history…
The 25-year-old Venezuelan professional footballer, a striker for the Major League Soccer club Atlanta United, has become the first player in MLS history to be named the MVP of the All-Star Game, season and MLS Cup.
Martinez capped the Golden Trifecta by being named the MVP of Saturday’s title game, a 2-0 win over Portland at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Martinez scored the opening goal and added an assist on Franco Escobar’s capping goal.
Martinez is the third player in MLS Cup history to score a goal and add an assist in the same final. He is the second player in MLS Cup history to score a goal in the final in the same year as winning the Golden Boot.
Martinez was named the league MVP after setting an MLS single-season scoring record with 31 goals during the regular season. He added four more in the playoffs to set a league record for goals in a season.
He was named MVP of the All-Star game after scoring a goal against Juventus at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
“I am most happy with the (MLS) Cup,” he said. “I think this team has had an incredible year, and I think we just have to appreciate the work of everyone this season, the players and coaching staff, because even though we had some ups and downs as a team, everyone on this team contributed something and made sacrifices. This is a win that we want to celebrate because it has been a long year and thank God also.”
Cheered on by the largest crowd in franchise history, United captured the crown in just its second season to set off a huge celebration in a city that has known so much sporting heartbreak. Owner Arthur Blank got to lift the trophy — less than two years after his other team, the NFL‘s Atlanta Falcons, squandered a 25-point lead in an epic Super Bowl collapse.
