Dallas, Seattle Sounders play out draw in first leg of MLS playoff clash

MLS Playoffs | Playoffs

Nov 3, 2014 at 2.05am UK

Michel (34' pen.)

FT(HT: 1-0)

Dallas and the Seattle Sounders play out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the MLS Western Conference semi-final clash as Osvaldo Alonso's strike cancels out Michel's penalty.

Published: November 3 2014 | 04:33

Last updated: November 4 2014 | 13:50

It was honours even in the first leg of the MLS playoff clash between Dallas and the Seattle Sounders as they played out a 1-1 draw in the Western Conference semi-final.

Obafemi Martins should have put the Sounders ahead in the 18th minute when he raced through on goal, but as he approached Raul Fernandez he lost his composure and fired a tame effort straight at the keeper.

The home side took the lead from the spot when Andres Escobar was fouled in the box by Marco Pappa. Michel took the penalty and dispatched the ball past Stefan Frei.

Martins came close to firing his side level just before the break when he powered an effort at goal, but Fernandez made an impressive one-handed stop, while Matt Hedges cleared the rebound away from the net.

In the second half, Seattle had speculative long-range efforts from Clint Dempsey and Pappa comfortably saved by Fernandez as they lacked the power to beat the keeper.

However, the Sounders found their equaliser in the 54th minute when Pappa delivered a pinpoint cross into the box and Osvaldo Alonso was on hand to guide a header past Fernandez from close range.

The visitors kept pushing forward and Dempsey came within inches of diverting Michael Azira's driven shot from the edge of the area goalwards, but he just couldn't make contact with the ball.

Fabian Castillo almost gave Dallas a one-goal advantage to take into the second leg when he raided down the right and then into the box, but his powerful strike was well saved by Frei, who turned the shot over the bar.

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Eastern Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Inter Miami Inter Miami	34	22	8	4	79	49	30	74
2	Columbus Crew	34	19	9	6	72	40	32	66
3	FC Cincinnati Cincinnati	34	18	5	11	58	48	10	59
4	Orlando City	34	15	7	12	59	50	9	52
5	Charlotte FC Charlotte FC	34	14	9	11	46	37	9	51
6	New York City FC NY City	34	14	8	12	54	49	5	50
7	New York Red Bulls NY Red Bulls	34	11	14	9	55	50	5	47
8	CF Montreal Montreal	34	11	10	13	48	64	-16	43
9	Atlanta United Atlanta	34	10	10	14	46	49	-3	40
10	DC United	34	10	10	14	52	70	-18	40
11	Philadelphia Union Philadelphia	34	9	10	15	62	55	7	37
12	Toronto	34	11	4	19	40	61	-21	37
13	Nashville SC Nashville	34	9	9	16	38	54	-16	36
14	New England Revolution New England	34	9	4	21	37	74	-37	31
15	Chicago Fire	34	7	9	18	40	62	-22	30

Western Conference

	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
1	Los Angeles FC Los Angeles	34	19	7	8	63	43	20	64
2	Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy	34	19	7	8	69	50	19	64
3	Real Salt Lake Salt Lake	34	16	11	7	65	48	17	59
4	Seattle Sounders Seattle	34	16	9	9	51	35	16	57
5	Houston Dynamo Houston	34	15	9	10	47	39	8	54
6	Minnesota United Minnesota Utd	34	15	7	12	58	49	9	52
7	Colorado Rapids Colorado	34	15	5	14	61	60	1	50
8	Portland Timbers Portland	34	12	11	11	65	56	9	47
9	Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver	34	13	8	13	52	49	3	47
10	Austin FC Austin	34	11	9	14	39	48	-9	42
11	Dallas	34	11	8	15	54	56	-2	41
12	St Louis City	34	8	13	13	50	63	-13	37
13	Sporting Kansas City Kansas	34	8	7	19	51	66	-15	31
14	San Jose Earthquakes Earthquakes	34	6	3	25	41	78	-37	21