When Real Salt Lake signed Sunday Stephen Obayan to add depth to the midfield, the club expected that the 27-year-old Nigerian would be able to strengthen the defensive abilities in the middle of the park. So scoring a header on a corner kick to lead RSL from a 1-0 deficit to a 2-1 victory over Seattle Sounders FC on Saturday was a huge bonus as the Claret-and-Cobalt ran its unbeaten streak in home openers to 12 straight matches.
In addition to his goal, “Sunny” also was a defensive enforcer against Seattle, with four tackles and three interceptions while limiting the Sounders to just two shots on goal for the final 55 minutes of the match. For those efforts, Sunny was named to MLSsoccer.com’s Team of the Week for Week 2.
“I’m very fortunate and very happy to score the first goal at home,” Sunny said after the match. “I’m also happy for the team. Coming to draw in the first game of the league against Orlando… I think we had a lot to learn from this game to play this team Seattle. I’m very glad, I’m very happy. Precisely for the team and for my family.”
Sunny has quickly gelled with his teammates despite joining training camp late in preseason. His addition has solidified the midfield alongside Kyle Beckerman in support of Javier Morales. His teammates have quickly taken notice that he can impact the team greatly moving forward.
“Sunny has got a great engine and is a such a solid player breaking stuff up in there. He’s a true destroyer; a warrior, so it was cool to see him getting on his defensive end as well,” defender Tony Beltran said. “Usually in practice I just see him tackling, but he has the quality in the final third as well.”
Sunny was joined on Team of the Week by goalkeeper Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union); defenders Mekeil Williams (Colorado Rapids), Laurent Ciman (Montreal Impact) and DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo); midfielders Chris Pontius (Philadelphia Union), Soni Mustivar (Sporting Kansas City) and Andrew Wenger (Houston Dynamo); and forwards David Villa (New York City FC), Dom Dwyer (Sporting Kansas City) and Ignacio Piatti (Montreal Impact).
For more on the Week 2 Team of the Week, click here.
Team of the Week
Week 1: Juan Manuel Martinez
Week 2: Sunday Stephen Obayan
