Sounders elbow their way to a fifth straight draw

Well at least it isn't five straight losses. And the Columbus Crew are the defending MLS Champions.

A lackluster start gave way to a wild finish Saturday night at Qwest Field, and when the final whistle blew, nothing was settled.

Sounders FC rallied to earn a 1-1 draw with the Columbus Crew, but defender Tyrone Marshall, who had played every minute of every Major League Soccer regular-season game before last night, was issued a red card and ejected in extra time of the second half.

So Seattle (4-2-5) had to play out the last couple of minutes with 10 players and yet survived for its fifth straight draw, hardly the result it sought playing at home for the first time in three weeks. The tie didn't necessarily make the players, the crowd of 29,126 and especially coach Sigi Schmid very happy, as Schmid had some choice words for his team about its focus and being overly concerned about the referee's calls.

And here's the good part, concerning Marshall's ejection...

Marshall's ejection came when the assistant referee came to the conclusion that Marshall threw a punch at the Crew's Steven Lenhart, as Schmid understood it. Marshall fumed after the game and was incredulous that the call came so late in the match.

"He ran into me with his elbow," Marshall said of Lenhart. "Being the competitor I am, I'm not going to take that ... I guess the retaliation, the linesman saw that part, and didn't see the first part of it."

A few seconds further into his diatribe, Marshall stopped. "I probably shouldn't say anymore, because then I'll be getting more fines."

Well said. Although a soccer player throwing a punch instead of falling down and faking an injury is awesome. Maybe next we can have some of the Tri-City Americans skate out onto the pitch and throw a few shoulders into some guys.

At 4-2-5, the Sounders FC are in third place of the Western Conference behind Chivas USA and Houston.