FRISCO, TEXAS – Steve Zakuani made his first start in exactly 500 days Sunday.
And he made the most of it, assisting Seattle’s lone goal in a 1-1 draw at FC Dallas.
“Steve shows that he still has that explosion, the ability to beat people,” coach Sigi Schmid said. “As he gains confidence, hopefully those kind of opportunities will occur more often in the game. He’s shown that he can still do it. It was a tremendous assist. Now, it’s just a matter of gaining game fitness and the ability to do that on a repetitive level.”
The result moved the Sounders (12-6-8) into third place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of Los Angeles, but two behind Real Salt Lake and nine behind league-leading San Jose.
Dallas (8-12-9) closed to four points behind Vancouver for the fifth and final playoff spot in the MLS West.
Zakuani had appeared in two MLS matches for a total of 10 minutes since suffering a fractured tibia and fibula April 22, 2011, at Colorado.
The forward said that Schmid had given him a few days’ notice that he would start at Dallas. He played 65 minutes.
His highlight came in the 20th minute when he took the ball down the left side, won some space with a stutter-step move and then sent a pass across the goalmouth where MLS assists leader Mauro Rosales ran on and finished at the far post.
“It was a great assist from Stevie,” Rosales said. “I was just trying to put the ball in the net. It was good for me. I’m not used to scoring, I’m used to making the assist.
“But it was a goal for us, and now we just have to keep going.”
It was a personal milestone for Zakuani: his first assist since April 16, 2011.
But it also was a great indicator for the club, which came into the match 12-0-1 when scoring first this season.
“I was just happy we scored,” Zakuani said. “It didn’t hit me until halftime that it was my first start. It was good to get back on the board in terms of an assist, but I was honestly just disappointed that we didn’t get to the half at 1-0.”
They didn’t because 12 minutes later Blas Perez got to a ball on the right side of the penalty area, turned and fired it across to Jackson, who knocked it in from the open left side.
Both teams had chances in the second half. The best might have come in the 68th minute, a one-on-one shot by Jackson, which Seattle goalkeeper Michael Gspurning saved.
Gspurning faced 24 shots, including seven on goal, and matched his season high with five saves.
Patrick Ianni also came up big several times along the back line, including sweeping one would-be goal by Andrew Jacobson off the line.
In the 78th minute, Seattle lost defensive midfielder Osvaldo Alonso to a head cut, and he was replaced by Servando Carrasco.
The high temperature at FC Dallas Stadium reached 100 degrees.
“I think (fatigue) showed,” Schmid said. “… That was … a reflection of just tired legs.”
The Sounders return to league play at 1 p.m. Saturday, when Chivas USA visits CenturyLink Field. blog.thenewstribune.com/soccer
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