Sounders Step Closer To Playoffs By Beating Toronto

Pure joy. That was the feeling I experienced for much of the Sounders' 90-minute, 3-goal deconstruction of Toronto FC at Qwest Field Saturday. The team looked as sharp as they every have, moving the ball crisply, getting in for nearly every challenge and defending well, with two notable exceptions. The win moved the team to 42 points in the league table and brought a playoff spot within sight. A win or draw Saturday against KC will clinch the postseason.

Some games come down to key moments, turning points and you might think the 3-2 scoreline saw the game turn at crucial moments. But this was 90 minutes of Sounders soccer. The boys ended the game playing the same way they started, spreading the ball around patiently, dominating possession, testing and teasing Toronto's defensive shape. They moved forward as cracks developed in the Toronto defense, finished strongly, and defended the occasional counterattacks.

Toronto's initial score came entirely against the run of play after 14 minutes. Where this team would've imploded with frustration earlier in the season, they didn't panic and kept playing their game. The first reward for their patience was a thing of beauty. Osvaldo Alonso laid a perfectly weighted pass between the defender and the keeper, and Steve Zakuani's speed brought his feet to the ball just before Toronto's keeper got there. He took a touch around Frei and tapped home the equalizer.

From where I sit in Section 119, the play unfolded directly in front of our seats. Pure joy. To see the pass elude the defender and arrive in no man's land, to not believe the Zakuani could reach it in time. Then to see him look up at the open net and 32,000 people saw the same thing as the winger: the Sounders were going to win this game. And then the ball was in the back of the net and I was jumping up and down, swinging my Sounders scarf around in celebration.

Nobody believed this game would remain tied. Not the Sounders. Not the Toronto players. No one in the stands. This was our day.

Blaise Nkufo extended his recent run of brilliance, powerfully heading in his 5th goal in 3 games for the winner. The half ended with Seattle up 2-1 and all we needed was an insurance goal.

The Sounders continued to maintain possession in the game's latter half, showing a patience that eluded them with the peripatetic Swede in command. In his place, Nate Sturgis quietly commanded the midfield, moving the ball from one side to another, hitting the seams when they opened up, moving the ball to the backfield when Toronto's defense needed to be unpacked. All the while they built pressure, created opportunities. When Toronto defender Adrian Carr turned a vital clearance into a hospital pass through the middle of the area, Gambian Sanna Nyassi stepped into a thunderous left-footed shot to the upper near corner. There was nothing for the hapless Toronto keeper to do to stop the shot; he could only wave wildly, as if he'd just seen his family in the stands.

Nyassi fell to the Qwest Field turf, overcome with emotion at his first MLS goal. As teammates piled on to him, that joy circulated around the stadium.