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US Open Cup 2011: Seattle Sounders 2-1 Los Angeles Galaxy, HT: Sounders Dominate Majority Of First Half But Late LA Surge Keeps Things Close

The Seattle Sounders head to the locker room unlucky not to be ahead by two or even three goals against the LA Galaxy after a first half which saw Seattle dominate every phase of the game. The Sounders pushed several chances just wide and LA keeper Josh Saunders made several excellent saves to keep the game in hand and a late spell of Galaxy control kept the score close as the teams head to the locker room.

The Sounders got on the board in the fourth minute with Fredy Montero finding Pat Noonan in space to feed Nate Jaqua's perfectly timed run and the big striker gave Saunders no chance as he finished coolly into the bottom right corner. The Sounders notched their second just twenty minutes later when Jaqua picked off a botched AJ De La Garza clearance and worked the ball to Montero who took a touch and fired past Saunders.

Seattle continued to dominate for most of the remainder of the first half, but the the last ten minutes of the frame were dominated by the Galaxy with Adam Christman providing the goal that had been coming for several minutes after latching onto Chris Birchall's cross and beating Terry Boss to get one back for LA.

Each side will likely feel the need to make adjustments at the half as the Galaxy seemingly figured out a way to deal with Seattle's gameplan late in the going and Bruce Arena will likely be less than enthralled with his team's performance for the majority of the half. The second is shaping up to be a highly competitive contest, meaning that we're quite likely to see a few first-team Sounders make an appearance before the night is out.