Seattle defeats Philadelphia in extra time to win Lamar Hunt US Open Cup final
CHESTER, Pa.
Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins scored in extra time to propel Seattle to a fourth Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title in six years with a 3-1 victory over Philadelphia.
Maurice Edu placed the title-starved Union in front eight minutes before halftime with a towering header at the back post. Chad Barrett equalized early in the second half to draw Seattle level and spark a frantic search for the winner from both teams.
Vincent Nogueira hit the post on the stroke of full time, but Seattle ultimately relied on Dempsey and second-half substitute Martins in the extra period. Martins squared for Dempsey’s eventual winner after 101 minutes and then secured yet another Open Cup triumph with a fine solo goal six minutes from the end.
“They just find each other," Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said about his matchwinning dup. "They know where each other are on the field all of the time. When Clint has the ball, he knows where Oba is. And when Oba has the ball, he knows where Clint its. They just find each other. The combination they had on Clint’s goal was fantastic and then Oba scores the third goal as well.”
Seattle joined Chicago as the only MLS sides with four Open Cup titles with yet another conquest, while the Union were left to rue a defeat in their first final in the club’s five-year history and the influential display of Martins off the bench.
It took a while for the match to evolve into a gripping affair. Both teams struggled in their attempts to make the use of the quickly apparent space in the early stages. The contrasting shapes – Philadelphia in its 4-2-3-1 setup, Seattle in its traditional 4-4-2 – created plenty of room from back to front with both sides willing to push numbers forward, but the early forays lacked the tidiness to required to exploit it appropriately.
Philadelphia settled first and started to present questions as the half unfolded. The movement of the front four created problems for the Seattle defense with Cristian Maidana presenting problems as he drifted out to the right from his nominal berth in the middle. Andrew Wenger headed wide from an inviting Sheanon Williams diagonal to reinforce the Union’s increasing threat.
Stefan Frei produced a fine save from a close-range Sebastien Le Toux effort on the half-hour and touched a Wenger drive wide of the far post as the Union continued to press the initiative. Their increasingly incisive work finally reaped the corresponding dividends from a set piece eight minutes before the break.
Maurice Edu staked Philadelphia to a lead before halftime with his towering header at the back post.
Maidana proved the architect as he cajoled Leo Gonzalez into conceding a foul on the right flank. The veteran winger then stepped over the ball and swung an inviting cross toward the back post. Edu jumped between two Sounders FC defenders and thumped his header inside the far post to stake the Union to a deserved halftime lead.
"I thought our guys put a ton into it. We had a very good first half," Philadelphia interim manager Jim Curtin said. "We had a chance or two to get a second goal, but we started the second half poorly. They got the goal and we were on our heels a little bit."
Seattle regrouped during the interval and sparked to life as the second half opened. The noticeable uptick in energy forced the Union to retreat and nearly prompted a penalty award when Barrett headed into the ground and Edu nudged it with his hand. The referee waved away the claims just two minutes into the second half, but the equalizer eventually arrived moments later from another set piece.
Carlos Valdes popped up his initial attempt to clear and provoked a scrum in the penalty area. Chad Marshall nodded into the goal area. Zac MacMath produced a good initial stop, but the rebound fell mere yards from the goal line. Barrett found himself in the right spot to poke home and restore parity.
The early equalizer tipped the balance of the game in Sounders FC’s favor for much of the second stanza. The visitors improved substantially and started to ask persistent questions of the Union rearguard with Martins thrown into the mix on the hour, though the home side also produced one glorious chance on the counter.
MacMath found himself under more scrutiny in the second half and vindicated his inclusion with a diving effort to push Brad Evans’ low drive around the post after 70 minutes. The resulting corner kick sparked a quick Union counter with Seattle committed to chasing a winner. Maidana raced behind the line to create a potential one-versus-one, but DeAndre Yedlin scurried back to poke away from Maidana before he could shoot.
Yedlin’s intervention should have paved the way for the winner after 76 minutes as Sounders FC surged up the left side. Martins produced the initial save from MacMath, but the ball fell kindly for fellow substitute Marco Pappa out on the left. Pappa drove his cross through the goal area toward the back post, but Dempsey somehow managed to push the ball wide from close range with the goal gaping.
Philadelphia created two gilt-edged chances of its own as the match hurtled toward full time. Frei somehow recovered in time to stop Pedro Ribeiro’s effort to turn into an open goal, though second-half substitute Ribeiro probably should have tucked it away nevertheless. Nogueira then found a way to beat Frei as he floated over the top and smashed around him with his right foot, but the left post repelled the potential winner and sent the match into extra time.
Both teams maintained their enterprising approach as extra time commenced with chances at both ends. MacMath produced a stunning, one-handed stop on Martins two minutes after play resumed, while Maidana hit a menacing free kick off the wall shortly thereafter.
Dempsey and Martins eventually produced the winner with a typically direct and potent move straight up the field. Martins dashed through the center channel and latched onto a vertical ball out of the back. He corralled the service and tempted the recovering Union defenders before playing a square ball to the onrushing Dempsey on the left. Dempsey held his nerve and tucked home to silence all but a vibrant corner of the PPL Park crowd.
The goal forced Philadelphia to throw just about everyone into the attacking half in a bid to procure an equalizer. MacMath came off his line once or twice to avert the danger, but he could not do a thing about the killer third six minutes from the end. Martins chested down a long ball at midfield, raced clear, shook the dutiful Ray Gaddis and then wrapped his wonderful solo run with a tidy finish to secure Open Cup glory yet again.
“It feels good to win things, but we’re trying to do something special," Dempsey said as he pondered the continued pursuit of the Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup. "We have the quality here that we think we can do it. We still have a lot of work cut out for ourselves in trying to do that.”
