Sebastien Le Toux leads as Sounders FC wins, 4-1

TUKWILA — Sebastien Le Toux needed a night like the one he had Tuesday.

The Sounders FC midfielder had gone from starter to reserve in a span of two Major League Soccer regular-season games, and earlier in the week talked about the need to find his scoring touch.

Did he ever. Playing on the same Starfire Sports Complex stadium field where he became one of the United Soccer Leagues Sounders' most prolific scorers, Le Toux found success and redemption on familiar turf.

Le Toux, used at forward, scored two goals and added two assists to lead Sounders FC to a 4-1 win over Real Salt Lake in a U.S. Open Cup play-in game.

"It was nice to come back here," Le Toux said of the Starfire atmosphere, enhanced by a packed house of 3,890 fans. "It was good for me to score and to find the confidence."

It seemed fitting that Le Toux, benched after one half of play two games ago in a Major League Soccer regular-season game and replaced in the Sounders FC starting 11 last Saturday, played well in an Open Cup match. He led the tournament in goals the past two years with five in each. Le Toux, who has one assist in six MLS regular-season games, also got to play his preferred position alongside former USL Sounders teammate Roger Levesque, and the chemistry between the two forwards was evident.

Sounders FC started five players who were USL Sounders Tuesday, resting most of its regular-season starters. Those players' familiarity with the bouncy and hard Starfire turf was an advantage. Seattle isn't yet in the tournament, however, as Sounders FC must win one more game in the play-in round to become one of eight MLS teams vying for the U.S. Open Cup, the American club championship.

Sounders FC advanced in the play-in bracket to face the Colorado Rapids, also winners in their play-in match. That game will take place next month at a location to be determined.

"It was good to get some guys on the field that haven't been playing a lot," Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid said, "for them to make our job as difficult as possible as coaches."

Getting to the next round was the fun part. Sounders FC got on the board in the 24th minute after Steve Zakuani put a move on a defender and centered to Levesque, who was taken down hard by Real's Tony Beltran. The foul took place in the penalty area and resulted in a penalty kick, which Le Toux drove home.

Not even three minutes later, Seattle scored again. Levesque passed ahead to Le Toux, who stopped briefly and spotted midfielder Sanna Nyassi streaking ahead of him. Le Toux fed Nyassi, who pushed the ball into the net with his left foot.

The visitors from Salt Lake went with more regular starters then Sounders FC, which played only two in Zakuani and defender James Riley. One of RSL's regulars, forward Will Johnson, scored in the 32nd minute to make the score 2-1.

Seattle broke the game open in the second half with back-to-back goals in the 53rd and 55th minutes. Center midfielder Stephen King, making his Sounders FC game debut, took a pass from Le Toux and fired the ball in for the first goal. Levesque assisted Le Toux on Sounders FC's fourth goal of the night moments later.

"It shows that we have that depth, and that's something that I'm very pleased with," Schmid said. "It's a long season, and you need everybody."

Forward Jarrod Smith and defender Evan Brown came on as second-half substitutes and made their Sounders FC debuts. Sounders FC will be in Chicago Saturday night to resume its MLS regular-season schedule against the Fire, which is tied for second place in the Eastern Conference at an undefeated 2-0-4.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com

Sounders FC 4, Real Salt Lake 1

At Tukwila

Real Salt Lake	1 0 — 1
Seattle	2 2 — 4

First half — 1, Seattle, Sebastien Le Toux (penalty kick), 24:00; 2, Seattle, Sanna Nyassi (Le Toux), 26:00; 3, Real Salt Lake, Will Johnson, 32:00. Second half — 4, Seattle, Stephen King (Le Toux), 53:00; 5, Le Toux (Roger Levesque), 55:00. Total shots — Seattle 16, Real Salt Lake 11. Shots on goal — Seattle 8, Real Salt Lake 3. Saves — Seattle 2, Real Salt Lake 4. Fouls — Seattle 12, Real Salt Lake 14. Offsides — Seattle 2, Real Salt Lake 0. Corner kicks — Seattle 4, Real Salt Lake 4. Cautions — Seattle: Patrick Ianni (reckless tackle) 19:00; RSL: Jamison Olave (handball) 41:00; Seattle: Sanna Nyassi (unsporting behavior) 71:00. A — 3,890 (Starfire Sports Complex).

Lineups

Real Salt Lake — Chris Seitz, Tony Beltran, David Horst, Jamison Olave (Nat Borchers 46), Robbie Russell, Ned Grabavoy, Kyle Beckerman (Jean Alexandre 66), Andy Williams, Will Johnson (Raphael Cox 71), Robbie Findley, Luis Miguel Escalada (Yura Movsisyan 57). Substitutes not used: Tino Nunez, Kyle Reynish, Chris Wingert.

Seattle — Chris Eylander, James Riley, Taylor Graham, Tyson Wahl, Zach Scott, Sanna Nyassi (Evan Brown 72), Stephen King, Patrick Ianni, Steve Zakuani (Jarrod Smith 65), Roger Levesque, Sebastien Le Toux. Substitutes not used: Osvaldo Alonso, Brad Evans, Nate Jaqua, Kasey Keller, Fredy Montero.

An earlier version of this story reported the Sounders-Real Salt Lake score as 4-0. The correct score is 4-1.