Zelarayan double as Columbus thump Seattle 3-0 to win MLS Cup investing.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from investing.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
MLS Cup: Highlights, stats and quotes
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MATCH SUMMARY
Saturday, December 12, 2020
Fourth Official: Alex Chilowicz
SCORING SUMMARY
CLB – Derrick Etienne (Lucas Zelarayán) 31’
CLB – Lucas Zelarayán (Luis Diaz) 82’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SEA – Brad Smith (caution) 49’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Alex Roldan (Kelvin Leerdam 60’), Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Shane O’Neill (Jimmy Medranda 77’), Nouhou (Brad Smith HT); João Paulo (Will Bruin 60’), Cristian Roldan, Joevin Jones (Gustav Svensson HT), Nicolás Lodeiro, Jordan Morris; Raúl Ruidíaz
Substitutes not used: Stefan Cleveland, Román Torres, Miguel Ibarra, Jordy Delem
Total shots: 13 (Ruidíaz, 4)
Shots on goal: 2 (C. Roldan/Ruidíaz, 1)
Columbus nearly found the back of the net in the 17
th minute when Gyasi Zardes forced Stefan Frei into a brilliant one-handed save.
Zelarayán opened the scoring in the 25
th minute on a volley from the left side off the box from a cross by Harrison Afful. Etienne Jr. doubled the advantage six minutes later when he finished a one-timed right-footed shot to the far post off a feed from Zelarayán.
Nicolás Lodeiro nearly pulled one back for Seattle in the 71
st minute when his one-timed effort just skipped past Eloy Room’s goal. Jordan Morris almost scored on a header in the 80
Columbus Dispatch-USA TODAY NETWORK
It is fitting that the 2020 version of MLS Cup is a mix of the familiar and completely bizarre. The familiarity comes from the teams the Seattle Sounders, a perennial contender, and an MLS original in the form of the Columbus Crew and the setting. Mapfre Stadium, opened as Crew Stadium in 1999 and home of some remarkable moments in American soccer, will be replaced by a downtown stadium next year.
The bizarre? The biggest game in American men’s soccer will be attended by no more than 1,500 people. MLS Cup has never been played this late in the year, or after this short of a regular season. Covid-19 has deprived the Crew of two major starters in Darlington Nagbe and Pedro Santos, and it’s the reason everything about this feels so odd.
WHEN AND WHERE: Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. PT at MAPFRE Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
WHERE TO WATCH: The match will be televised on FOX and UniMás.
WHERE TO LISTEN: The match will air on 950 KJR AM and El Rey 1360 AM.
FINAL 2020 RECORDS AND STANDINGS: Sounders 11-5-6 (1.77 PPG, 2
nd West), Crew: 12-6-5 (1.78 PPG, 3
rd East)
FORM GUIDE (most recent first): Seattle: WWWWD, Columbus: WWWWL
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Seattle defeated LAFC 3-1, FC Dallas 1-0 and then Minnesota United 3-2 in an instant classic. Columbus beat the New York Red Bulls 3-2, Nashville SC 2-0 in extra time and then the New England Revolution 1-0.