It is now time for the Western Conference Semi-Finals in this season’s MLS, when FC Dallas will be hosting the Seattle Sounders at Toyota Stadium on Sunday, November 6th. The two teams met last weekend at Seattle, where the hosts recorded a massive 0-3 win that gives them a substantial advantage when it comes to qualifying to the Conference Finals.
FC Dallas were stunned last week against the Seattle Sounders, and now the MLS Supporter’s Shield winners and top playoff seed are very much in danger of being left out. The Sounders managed to destroy them in an 8 minute span in the start of the second half, as Valdez took the lead at the 50th minute. This season’s MLS sensation, Nicolas Lodeiro, bagged two of his own (55th and 58th minute), and no matter how hard FC Dallas tried to score at least one away goal, that didn’t happen. FC Dallas now need to recreate the 0-3 scoreline in order to take this tie to extra time, but should the Sounders score a goal, then FC Dallas would need 5 goals in order to qualify. This is an enormous task for FC Dallas, but they have a decent history when hosting the Sounders (5-3-5), and they should be able to take a win here, but I am not sure if it would be enough to see them through to the Conference Finals. Mauro Diaz and Zach Loyd are listed as unavailable for this match.
On the other hand, the Seattle Sounders must now be extra careful in the upcoming match, as they need to defend the 3 goal margin that they took from the first leg. Nicolas Lodeiro has been trully amazing this season, even though he was only acquired in the summer. What has also helped this team come this far however, was the fact that coach Sigi Schmidt was replaced by Brian Schmetzer. We should refer to him as coach Schmetzer from now on, as he was named head coach after resurrecting the 2016 season and putting the team on the brink of a berth in the Western Conference Championship. The team looked far away from any of the play-off spots back in July, however the additions of Lodeiro and Schmetzer have trully transformed the team into a contender. However, the team has also suffered an irreplaceable blow in their roster, as emblematic forward Clint Dempsey has been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat and is out for the season. The Deuce faces the possibility of not playing soccer ever again, so the Sounders are slowly adjusting to life without Dempsey. Besides Dempsey, Anderson and Remick are listed as doubtful.