Sounders and Atlanta United battle to goalless draw

Playing with two defenders who hadn't seen a minute of action this season, the Seattle Sounders held high-scoring Atlanta United without a goal for the first time in a 0-0 draw on Friday night.

The Sounders already had Jordy Delem in the lineup for his first-ever MLS game when they scratched center-back stalwart Chad Marshall just a few minutes before kickoff because of an illness. He was replaced by Tony Alfaro.

Atlanta came in with 11 goals over its first three games, just one behind league-leading Portland.

The Sounders, who have a 10-game regular-season home unbeaten streak dating to July 9, nearly took the lead in the eighth minute when Cristian Roldan ran onto a cross from Jordan Morris but sent it just wide of the left post from inside the six-yard box.

Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei came up big in the 12th minute when he went down and stripped the ball off the left foot of Hector Villalba at the top left corner of the penalty area.

In the 58th minute, Seattle star Clint Dempsey had a header from six yards in front that bounced off the crossbar.

And Frei preserved the clean sheet with three minutes to play when he dived to stop a 22-yard shot from Atlanta's Miguel Almiron.