This weekend’s victories represented more than three points for both D.C. United and Seattle Sounders. Their wins helped them to reach the top spots in their respective Conferences as United moves to first place in the East with 43 points while the Sounders reach the Western’s first place with 45 points.
D.C. United visited defending MLS champions Sporting Kansas City on Saturday and they made things look easy as they were leading 3-0 just after 31 minutes had been played. United managed to score the three goals within eight minutes; Fabián Espíndola opened in the 24th minute, Chris Rolfe scored the second of the night in the 28th minute followed by Perry Kitchen netting in the third one in the 31st minute of play. After that, SKC fought back trying to reduce the advantage but D.C. made sure to keep things under control. This meant the first D.C. United victory at Sporting Park in the club’s history.
After the match, D.C. United’s goalscorer Perry Kitchen commented:
“It’s nice but we have ten games left. It means nothing if we don’t build off of it. We can’t get too comfortable with where we are at, or we are going to start losing. We just have to keep it moving.”
On the other hand, Seattle Sounders also got a comfortable win in the ‘Cascadia derby’ against Portland Timbers at Providence Park on Sunday. The Seattle club won 4-2 after taking an early lead with Obafemi Martins scoring in the 18th minute. Clint Dempsey fired in the second goal for Seattle in the 34th minute. During the second half, the Timbers had a couple of chances to reduce the deficit but their efforts were denied. In the 70th minute, Chad Barret scored the third one for the Sounders, making things even more difficult for Portland. The Timbers didn’t give up and managed to score one in the 73rd minute. After that, Obafemi Martins scored the fourth goal for Seattle in the 76th minute and Timber’s Fanendo Adi netted in the second goal for Portland in added time.
USMNT and Sounders player Clint Dempsey gave his thoughts on the result.
“We’ve been a bit down in terms of our energy and not getting the right results. Getting a win like today lifts the spirits. Hopefully we can push on and go on a run.”
