Seattle Sounders FC falls 3-1 to Club Necaxa in Leagues Cup play, advances to Round of 32

For the Seattle Sounders, Sunday night’s match against Liga MX side Club Necaxa was an opportunity to win Group F of Leagues Cup. Coming into this fixture, the Sounders won their opening match of the competition against Minnesota United. In that game, Jordan Morris and Paul Rothrock scored a pair of late goals to propel the Sounders to victory and take the lead in the group.

Last Tuesday, Necaxa fell 1-0 to Minnesota in heartbreaking fashion. The team was up a man for more than 70 minutes, but were unable to find that equalizer, mainly due to the heroics of Minnesota goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair. On Sunday, Necaxa had everything to play for. If they won, they were into the Round of 32. A loss would have seen them eliminated.

Things began well enough for the Sounders on Sunday night.

Earving Marquez / Area Sports Network

In the 8th minute, Obed Vargas opened the scoring when Cristian Roldan found him streaking down the right side of the box. Vargas fired off a well-placed shot into the back corner of the goal. Soon after, Pedro de la Vega seemed to have given the Sounders a 2-0 lead. His skillful dribble and wonderful goal were negated after the referee declared that the play was offside.

Necaxa took full advantage of the disallowed goal and scored a goal of their own in the 24th minute. Agustin Palavecino took a shot from just outside the box and beat Sounders goalkeeper Andrew Thomas at his near post. Matters got worse for the Sounders in the 33rd minute as Pedro de la Vega was subbed off after an apparent groin injury.

“We will assess him. We will get an MRI and all that…. We will talk to you guys on Tuesday,” Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said after the game regarding de la Vega’s injury.

In the 44th minute, Necaxa took the lead when Diber Cambindo capped off an impressive counterattack that left the Sounders exposed at the back. The timing of the goal could not have been worse for Seattle as halftime was just a few minutes away.

“That [second goal] is on me,” Schmetzer said. “That’s on me because I knew that they had a guy up [the field]. We had Danny [Leyva] and Alex [Roldan], but we could have kept another guy at the top of the box. We could have been conservative.”

The second half of the match was more of the all-too-familiar story for the Sounders. Seattle kept the ball for long stretches, but it was unable to find an equalizer. The side had 71 percent of the possession yet only mustered 2 shots on goal all game, one of which was the early goal by Vargas.

“In games like this where your opponent is pretty clever, pretty well set up when they are defending, you have to try to unbalance them somehow [using] different runs from different positions. We weren’t able to make that happen,” Schmetzer said.

Necaxa finished the job in the 92nd minute. Kevin Rosero shot a decisive shot into the top corner of the goal from the right side of the box, sending the Necaxa supporters in attendance into a roar. The goal would seal the win for Necaxa and it meant that they had just won Group F.

Earving Marquez / Area Sports Network

The Sounders would finish second in the group while still securing a spot in the next round. Thanks to them finishing second in the Western Conference in the 2023 campaign, Seattle will get to host a match in the next round due to their higher seed.

For most of the match, Seattle looked rather toothless in attack, but if there is to be a silver lining in Sunday’s match, it is the first 20 minutes of the fixture. The team looked confident and dominant.

“I think the movement with the ball and the build out were really smooth… I think it made it easier for us to build the game, get into their dirt and be able to create chances,” stated Danny Leyva after the game, regarding the opening 20 minutes of the match.

The Sounders’ defeat was another stark reminder that the team must find a way to score when they have the ball for extended periods. Necaxa did a remarkable job finding the spaces in behind when the ball did finally come their way.

Schmetzer, despite his team’s shortcomings today, continues to be optimistic about the team’s outlook.

“We’re going to continue. We’re going to play well, [and] we are going to win more games.”

The Sounders will continue their Leagues Cup campaign next Thursday, August 8th when the team takes on the LA Galaxy at Lumen Field in the Round of 32. Kickoff time is yet to be determined.

Feature photo by Earving Marquez / Area Sports Network