What a night it was for the Seattle Sounders. After a disappointing quarterfinal exit from the 2024 Leagues Cup at the hands of LAFC last week, the Sounders bounced back in a huge way and collected all three points on the road against Minnesota United on Saturday night. At kickoff, the Sounders had a mere four-point lead on Minnesota in the Western Conference standings, so Saturday’s match was a pivotal one as the MLS regular season enters its homestretch.
Seattle started on the right foot in the 11th minute when Obed Vargas played a perfectly timed through ball to Jordan Morris, who then chipped the ball over the onrushing Dayne St. Clair. The Sounders were certainly off to a dream start.
Minnesota played spoiler not too long after Seattle took an early lead. The Loons were awarded a penalty after Yeimar Gomez Andrade fouled Kelvin Yeboah inside the penalty box. Once a VAR check finalized the penalty decision, Yeboah leveled the match from the spot in the 24th minute.
The Sounders retook the lead four minutes later in the 28th minute as Jackson Ragen scored a beautiful arching header into the far post. While the finish itself was impressive, the ball delivered by Albert Rusnák was the catalyst for the wonderful goal.
“The ball to Jackson almost felt like a set piece,” Rusnák said. “I think we have been really good at set pieces in the past couple of months… We are not always able to break teams down when they defend with 11 men behind the ball… I feel like [a set piece] is an easier goal than when you break a team down.”
The early part of the second half was dominated by Minnesota. They kept on pressing creating and chances for themselves, even if the chances themselves were not of the greatest danger. They had 62 percent possession in the second half and had 18 total shots, but only 3 of them were on target.
One of the shots on target did go in for the Loons in the 56th minute when, yet again, Yeboah found the back of the net. With the game was all tied up and just over half an hour to go, the Sounders needed to find a breakthrough if they wanted to steal all three points at Allianz Field.
The Rave Green found their moment when Rusnák continued his fantastic run of form and scored an utter golazo in the 75th minute. The Slovakian collected the ball outside the Minnesota box, cut inside and fired off a shot into the lower near post. The third goal by Seattle would prove to be enough as the side was able to earn a crucial three points on the road.
“He does that [goal] in practice all day long… Looks like he is going to shoot [at] the far post, but then he gets it in at the near post,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said.
Another positive on the night was the return of Pedro de la Vega, who suffered a groin injury against Club Necaxa in Leagues Cup play. Though he saw limited minutes, Schmetzer liked what he saw from the young Argentine.
“[His performance was] very good… He is a good dribbler. He is savvy. He understands certain angles and things… Pedro came in and did exactly what I asked him to do and that was a bonus for us,” Schmetzer said.
Being eliminated from the Leagues Cup must have hurt for the Sounders. Not only because they lost, but because they got severely outplayed in critical moments. Saturday night’s game, however, was a commanding return to form for the Rave Green.
Minnesota kept clawing back into the match, but the Sounders delivered in critical moments, right when it mattered most. Surely, the team will continue to face adversity in both the U.S. Open Cup semifinal against LAFC and in the remainder of the MLS regular season. Knowing that the team has the ability to deliver when they need to is huge.
“I could not be prouder of the guys because they came back, after an emotional loss, and put up three goals on the road, which is very challenging…I mean, that is pretty impressive. That group of guys wanted to make a statement,” Schmetzer said.
The Sounders will look to make an even bigger statement this week as they have two important upcoming matches. Seattle faces LAFC in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal on Wednesday at 7:30 pm. In addition, they will head south and take on the Portland Timbers, their bitter rivals, on Saturday at 7:30 pm.
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