The Latin Combo delivers when needed, as the visiting Houston Dynamo learned when the Seattle Sounders capitalized on goals from Colombian Fredy Montero and Uruguayan Alvaro Fernandez in a 2-0 triumph before 36,111 fans Sunday night at the Xbox Pitch of Qwest Field.

The Montero goal in the 64th minute continued the rampaging pace of the Colombian Comet that earned him MLS Player of the Month honors for July. 

Montero’s eighth goal of the campaign came following a long punt by goalkeeper Kasey Keller. With a Dynamo defender draped on his back, Montero chested the ball down, spun to his left, and drove a 15-yard effort past goalkeeper Tally Hall.

In addition to securing a clean sheet for the evening, Keller achieved that goalkeeper rarity: an assist, on the Montero tally.  It marked the first ever in Sounders franchise history for a goalkeeper.

Alvaro Fernandez has, for the second time in a row, come into a match in the second half and tallied an important goal.  Last week, he secured a Seattle aggregate win on points over Metapan on a muddy San Salvador field to earn a 1-1 tie and 2-1 overall triumph as the Sounders moved on to the next round of the CONCACAF competition.

On Sunday, his right-footed boot in the 88th minute past goalkeeper Hall provided insurance and capped off the Sounders triumph in what has to be classified as one of the team’s finest efforts of the season, both offensively and defensively.

Once more, Colombian Comet Montero was a factor, as he accounted for an assist on Fernandez’ goal, marking his ninth of the season.  The assist ties Montero with Freddie Ljungberg’s team record established last year.

Just as new foreign designated player acquisition Fernandez, a recent Uruguayan World Cup player, aided his team’s winning effort, credit must also be bestowed on midfielder Blaise Nkufo.

The Congolese star, who set a scoring record in Dutch football and was a performer on the Switzerland team that handed eventual champion Spain its only loss in the World Cup, contributed mightily to the Seattle cause during his 87 minutes on the Xbox Pitch.

There is a smoothness and fluidity in the way that Nkufo works the midfield area.  There are no wasted movements, nor goal thrusts from excessive distances that provide the opposition with possession.

The Nkufo system involves solid linkage, sure and direct passes that enable the Sounders to play intelligent possession soccer.

There is also a solid physical presence that Nkufo provides, and it came last night against a Houston team noted for its emphasis on physicality.

As Seattle Coach Sigi Schmid noted after the match, relative to Nkufo’s formidable presence, “It certainly helped us.  His ability to occupy a defender and be strong on the ball and bring the other players into the game is important.  It’s something that (Nate) Jaqua gave us last year early in the year.”

Schmid was delighted to see his team get its fourth successive MLS win and fifth league match in succession without a loss, propelling the Sounders to an 8-8-4 mark with 28 points and fourth place occupancy.

"We're happy with the win,” Schmid said.  “Something that we've been talking about is getting to .500. We've also been talking a lot about making our home games our home games again and making sure that we win at home.

“Today was a good result, especially against Houston. Last year and in the past when we've played teams that are more physical or robust are teams that have given us a hard time. We were able to match that and came out ahead at the end of the day, so I was very pleased."

The setback left Houston with a 5-9-5 record and 20 points.  Coach Dominic Kinnear’s team has not tasted victory in its last nine MLS matches.  The Dynamo reside in seventh place in the Western Conference.

When asked after the match if the Sounders are playing their best soccer of the season, Steve Zakuani spoke directly to the point.  “For sure!”  Zakuani enthused.  “I don’t know what it is, but you can feel it in our practices.  You can feel us getting better.”

An important force in the recent Sounder surge has been owner and general manager Adrian Hanauer.  When the Sounders were struggling and finding it difficult to score goals, Hanauer put on his thinking cap and began evaluating talent.  One of his efforts in that direction was to attend the World Cup in South Africa and do some scouting.

The two main moves Hanauer implemented on the foreign scene are paying current dividends and have made the Sounders a stronger team.  Nkufo has become the Great Facilitator at midfield, making intelligent passing choices and running the offensive attack, seeing that scoring giants like Montero and Zakuani get goal-producing opportunities.

Meanwhile, the other foreign player Hanauer acquired, the versatile Uruguayan Fernandez, is also a main cog in the Seattle scoring arsenal, possessing the swift moves to drive the ball upfield, to pass and generate scoring opportunities for others, and last but certainly not least, to drill winners home into the net.

The Sounders are back in MLS action when they travel to Home Depot Center in Carson, California to face Chivas USA Saturday night at 8 p.m. PT.

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