Every fan of the Seattle Sounders – and there are many – knew that the team’s first loss would come eventually. And Saturday night, it came at the hands of the Kansas City Wizards.

It will be difficult to swallow, coming in a game Seattle will feel like they could have drawn or better. Of course, sometimes in soccer the breaks go the other way, as was the case when the Wizards topped the Sounders 1-0. An 80th minute long-range goal from Davy Arnaud was the difference. The shot was saveable yet it eluded Ben Dragavon, Seattle’s emergency goalkeeper who was forced into action thanks to a red card to starting keeper and captain Kasey Keller.

Seattle didn’t start the match particularly well, not having a lot of possession during the opening moments. They did rapidly get whistled for a number of fouls, drawing boos from the sold-out crowd. But Kansas City didn’t start out with a lot of offense either. It wasn’t until the 10th minute that the first real chance developed, a Claudio Lopez shot saved by Keller. For the opening half hour or so, the play on the pitch wasn’t pretty, but rather chippy.

The entire complexion of the game would be changed in the 29th minute. Kansas City’s Herculez Gomez, a former USL Sounder, broke free with the ball and had a clear line to goal until he was met by an onrushing Keller. Gomez got a shot off, blocked the hands of a sliding Keller – but the Seattle keeper was just out of the box, and a red card was given. Keller was off, as was Sebastien Le Toux, subbed out to make way for 3rd-string keeper Ben Dragavon. (Backup Chris Eylander was out injured.) While this meant Seattle lost their leader and captain, the play did save a sure goal. The resulting free kick by Lopez was hilariously off the mark.

After a brief period of confusion, with Seattle players shifting into different roles, the Sounders actually began getting the better of play. Just before halftime Fredy Montero forced Wizards keeper Kevin Hartman into a save, and the pressure was kept up during the start of the second half. Seattle controlled the possession with intricate short passes, and looked almost like they were the side with the man advantage. The control would result in a great opportunity for Brad Evans in the 59th minute. He was played through by Nate Jaqua, but his shot was parried away by a very in-form Hartman.

Seattle’s closest two chances to a goal would come in the next few minutes, both off the gifted feet of Fredy Montero. Seattle had a free kick from close range in the 60th minute, which Freddy Ljungberg tapped to Montero. The Colombian striker hit a wicked dipping strike that pinged off the crossbar. Five minutes later Montero would have a golden opportunity go to waste. Open in the Kansas City penalty area, he was fed by Jaqua and seemingly had an open goal to shoot at from 15 or so yards, but his low shot deflected off a Wizards defender.

But Seattle, having played a man down for so long, would begin to tire and it would cost them dearly. In the 70th minute Kansas City’s Jimmy Conrad uncharacteristically missed an open goal on a header from mere yards out. The Wizards attack was focused on their right flank, and on Seattle defender Zach Scott, who had a nightmarish second half. In a span of about 3 minutes, he got badly beat down the wing, completely whiffed on a clearance, and brought down a man with a terrible tackle right outside the penalty area.

In the end, it was just too much pressure for the Sounders. First Claudio Lopez had a fantastic look at goal which was parried away brilliantly by Dragavon. Shortly after, in the 80th minute, Arnaud hit a strike for the Wizards which would decide the game. Given all kinds of time and space outside the penalty area, he obliged with a knuckling drive that Dragavon looked to have covered, but he couldn’t get enough of his hands on the ball to alter its course into the back of the net. Seattle would get a last-gasp chance 2 minutes from time, as substitute Steve Zakuani played a great cross to Jaqua but the big man headed just wide. And there would be no magic in the Emerald City, as the whistle blew and the Wizards emerged victorious.

Sounders player ratings

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being best.

Kasey Keller – 5 Hard to call this one. His red-card offense certainly saved a goal, but could he have stopped it without his hands? Possibly. Regardless, the red card changed the face of the game. And Keller probably would have kept out Arnaud’s goal had he been in.

James Riley – 5.5 Another fairly typical Riley performance. He won’t wow anybody, and he got beat on occasion, but he’s solid defensively and rarely makes stupid mistakes. And he got forward some as well, although his crosses weren’t great.

Tyrone Marshall – 7 I thought he played a standout game, at least for him. He was extremely good in the air winning balls, and he made a number of saving tackles covering for other defenders. Played very intelligently, even receiving the captain’s armband late in the game.

Jhon Kennedy Hurtado – 6 Worked well with Marshall, was physical in a good way and made a couple of absolutely brilliant tackles. Towards the end he gave the Wizards a bit too much space. Also needs work on his distribution.

Zach Scott – 3.5 I don’t want to seem like I’m picking on Scott. I liked him a lot with the USL Sounders. But he was awful. He was beaten on the play that led to the red card, and beaten often down the wing. He tried to compensate by pinching way in, but that left Kansas City with lots of open space up top toward the end of the game, and they capitalized. Don’t expect him to start next week.

Sebastien Le Toux – 4.5 Was only in for 30 minutes before making way to Dragavon. He wasn’t terrible, but didn’t do anything dangerous and had quite a few unnecessary giveaways. Maybe he’d be better as a super-sub off the bench?

Osvaldo Alonso – 6.5 How did he not get picked up by any MLS teams last year? Worked tirelessly, won countless tackles, and was all over the pitch. He didn’t quite spark the attack as he did in previous games, which is the reason for the slightly lower grade.

Freddie Ljungberg – 7 Played 80 minutes and looked good doing it. He was able to handle the considerable pressure the Wizards threw at him, possessing and passing calmly even when defenders were draped on his back.

Brad Evans – 5.5 Nobody can ever accuse Evans of being lazy. But he looked uncomfortable on the wing, out of his normal central midfield position. He got better as the game progressed, and made a couple dangerous runs that led to near opportunities.

Fredy Montero – 6.5 He had the two best chances at goal for the Sounders, and was unfortunate not to be rewarded either time. He was creative and dangerous for much of the game, displaying his great touch on the ball. Clearly ran out of gas at the end, though.

Nate Jaqua – 6 I can’t even count how many long balls he won in the air. He had a solid, if unspectacular game.

Ben Dragavon (sub) – 5 I have to give him some credit. He was making his MLS debut in an extremely tough situation. He made one fantastic reaction save on a Lopez shot. The goal was a soft one, though, and he really should have done better.

Steve Zakuani (sub) – 6 In limited time (10-ish minutes), he looked dangerous, making a great individual play before crossing and setting up Jaqua’s last-gasp header. Could and probably should be starting.

Sanna Nyassi (sub) – 5.5 Only on for about 5 minutes. Won a corner, didn’t do much else.