Rose lifts Sounders past Real Salt Lake, 3-2
SEATTLE (AP) Andy Rose kept calm and got the Seattle Sounders another win.
Rose scored during second-half stoppage time to lift the MLS-leading Seattle Sounders past Real Salt Lake 3-2 on Friday night.
Rose's third goal of the year came midway in the fourth minute of the five minutes of stoppage. He picked up a loose ball 12 yards in front of the net to the right of the penalty spot, and drilled a shot into the back left corner past Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando
''The main thing with those bouncing balls is you want to catch it as sweetly as possible and keep it low,'' said Rose, who subbed on at the end of the 65th minute. ''I said to myself, `Just keep it low,' and obviously, I was lucky enough that it went into the back of the net.
''We're a team that always believes we can find a winner in that sort of situation. ... Sometimes, you have to win ugly and scrappy.''
The victory was the fourth straight for the Sounders (17-7-3), and widened their lead over second-place Los Angeles to four points.
Seattle has allowed the first goal in 11 games this year and come back to win five of them.
''We said at the beginning of the season that we're going to be a team that's going to play from minute one thorough minute 90 or 95,'' Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. ''That's something we've shown often, and we showed it again tonight. It's tremendous to get three points.''
Joao Plata tied the score at 2-2 in the 50th minute for Salt Lake (12-6-10) on a shot that deflected off Seattle's Osvaldo Alonso, bounced off the right post, and into the net for his team-leading 12th of the season.
Salt Lake then played down a man for the final 22 minutes of the game after defender Nat Borchers was sent off late in the 68th. Borchers pulled Sounders forward Obafemi Martins down from behind while Martins was breaking toward the Salt Lake penalty area.
''They have good attacking players We got caught, and you never want to leave yourself exposed (1-on-1),'' Salt Lake coach Jeff Casssar said. ''Obviously, that changed the game. We had to make a few tactical moves, and for the most part, it worked extremely well. We tried to pressure to the service, but you can't get to everyone.''
Javier Morales put Salt Lake (12-6-10) on the board in the 30th minute with his eighth of the year. Morales was left wide open in the right side of Seattle's box, and easily parked a 12-yard shot into the back left corner.
Seattle tied it and then pulled ahead in a five-minute stretch late in the half. Lamar Neagle scored in the 38th minute with a 35-yard blast that seemed to catch Rimando off guard and sailed high into the back left side for is sixth of the year.
Martins took a through ball from Dempsey and sent a shot that deflected off Rimando and into the top left corner to make it 2-1 in the 43rd. It was Martins' 13th goal, leaving him one shy of Seattle's single-season scoring record of 14, set by Eddie Johnson in 2012.