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SEATTLE - Seattle Sounders FC finished the CONCACAF Champions League Group Stage with a fourth victory in as many games, beating CD Marathon 3-1 at CenturyLink Field Wednesday night.
With Seattle already having qualified for the quarterfinals entering the match, Sammy Ocho scored for a fourth consecutive Champions League game, and Steve Zakuani and David Estrada both added tallies to earn the Sounders the third-best record in the Group Stage.
Ochoa struck in the 23rd minute, taking a bouncing cross from Mario Martinez, shedding a tackle and putting a first-time shot into the net from 12 meters for his fourth CONCACAF Champions League goal.
Four minutes later, Jeff Parke played Zakuani into the box and the forward cut back on a defender and hammered the ball inside the near post.
The Sounders nearly made it 3-0 in the 32nd minute, but Zach Scott snapped a header just wide of the far post.
Marathon pulled within a goal in the 37th minute as Tulio Vega was played into space. Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann came off his line to challenge Vega, who played the ball toward the far post where Mitchell Brown tapped it into the open net.
The Hondurans threatened to equalize in the 66th minute when Brown had a clears shot from inside the box, but Hahnemann, who made his Seattle debut, was able to make the save at the edge of the six-yard box without giving up a rebound.
Estrada would add an insurance goal in the 76th. After the initial pass into the area for Estrada deflected off a Marathon defender, Estrada recovered the ball and put it over Marathon goalkeeper Jose Mendoza from just outside the six-yard box.
The result extended Seattle's unbeaten streak to five matches in all competitions, having allowed only two goals in that span. It has lost only one of its last 13 matches.
The loss ended a six-game unbeaten streak for Marathon, which has one only one of its last six in the Champions League.
