Struggling Seattle shut out by Montreal to remain winless
Jeisson Vargas scored his second goal of the season and his MLS career, and the Montreal Impact picked up a 1-0 win over the 10-man Seattle Sounders on Saturday night.
Ignacio Piatti set up the 20-year-old Vargas with his third assist of the season as the Impact secured their first away win of 2018 and completed an impressive sweep of last year's MLS Cup finalists.
In its last match two weeks ago, Montreal defeated Toronto 1-0. Toronto beat Seattle in the 2017 MLS Cup.
The Sounders are still searching for their first points of the season after having a player ejected in all three of their matches. This time it was Kelvin Leerdam who was sent off shortly before halftime for a slap to the face of Montreal's Daniel Lovitz.
Referee Ismail Elfath initially missed the infraction before spotting it during a replay review.
With US international forward Clint Dempsey serving a red-card suspension, Seattle was shut out for a second consecutive match.
After halftime, Seattle generated considerable offensive pressure despite being a man down, but found themselves trailing in the 60th minute.
Montreal's Saphir Taider pressured a defender into a giveaway, then found Piatti on the edge of the penalty area with a backheel.
Piatti sliced between center backs Chad Marshall and Roman Torres, then picked out Vargas for an easy finish from the edge of the 6-yard box.
The Sounders had several good chances late, the best coming when Nicolas Lodeiro's ferocious shot was denied by Impact goalkeeper Evan Bush's right foot in the 84th minute.
Vargas had the best first-half chance in the 17th minute. He curled a free kick that appeared headed for the top right corner of the goal until Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei pushed it wide with an acrobatic save.
Otherwise, the most excitement in the opening 45 minutes came during Leerdam's dismissal after he tangled with Lovitz following a battle for a loose ball. Lovitz received a yellow card for his initial shove on Leerdam. But Elfath rightly considered Leerdam's slap to Lovitz's left jaw more severe.
--Field Level Media
