Good, bad, and interesting: Plata returns unscathed, but RSL concedes three

There were a lot of things that happened Friday — including a loss to Seattle Sounders that, quite frankly, stings a lot. Let's talk about one good thing, one bad thing, and one interesting thing from that match.

Given the final state of the match, let's start with the things that went well and move backward, because really, who wants to start with, well, that?

The good thing

Joao Plata returned unscathed! This is perhaps the most exciting thing that happened. He even scored a nice little goal with his nice little feet, and it was very exciting. Sure, it took a deflection, and sure, there was plenty of luck involved, but if you can't be excited about luck, what can you be excited about?

The bad thing

We conceded three goals. Any one of those goals, sure, that's fine. Conceding a late goal? I don't think it was a systemic element of our play — which isn't to excuse it, but just to say that we've worked past the problems we experienced early in the season. The bigger problem was that we conceded three goals in the first place. Now, one of those goals was a real golazo, if I'm allowed to use the term, from Lamar Neagle, but you can't concede three goals and be happy about it.

The interesting thing

The reaction from the crowd to Ned Grabavoy (of all people!) getting injured was intense and, honestly, a little funny. It wasn't as if he was milking it, and he came off injured later in the match. Call me a sociologist, but the mentality of the crowd gets my interesting pick of the weekend. We talk a lot about rivalries, and maybe this is indicative of a rivalry that stems from the two teams playing and not some bad-blooded supporter interaction. (For the record, nearly everybody in Seattle was nice to those of us traveling. Make no mistakes about that.)