The Seattle Sounders ( 0-3-1, 1 point) walked away from Sundays 2-2 draw at Sporting Kansas City (4-1-2, 14 points) with several things they did not have when they walked into the stadium. The Sounders started the against Sporting winless and goalless in MLS Play. So depending who you ask two goals scored, a point against the top team in the Western Conference is not a bad day at the office.
If you are looking for positive responses regarding Sunday’s result one person you want to avoid is Seattle Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer. For the Rave Green head coach, Sunday’s draw was a missed opportunity.
Schmetzer’s consternation comes from the fact that his team put its self in a position to win despite making some critical errors early in the game. The first error was Nouhou’s ill-timed challenge on Sporting KC forward Johnny Russell that resulted in a penalty kick that Ilie Sanchez converted to a 1-0 lead for the home side.
After hitting the post in an earlier attempt, Seattle forward Will Bruin made good on his second consecutive attempt at goal when he rifled home a Chad Marshall flick to tie the game with the last kick of the first half.
Seattle came on the front foot in the second half and looked to have won the go-ahead opportunity in the 58th minute when Sporting defender Jimmy Medranda was whistled for a handball by referee Drew Fischer. Unfortunately for the Sounders Fischer reversed the call after video review.
The Sounders continued the push for a goal came to fruition in the 73rd minute when Cristian Roldan’s wonder strike off a Bruin setter gave the visitors what looked like there first win off the season.
Unfortunately for the Sounders, the costly mistake monster reared its ugly head once again when KC fullback Graham Zusi equalized five minutes later after being given free reign of the right flank. Zusi had time, space as he dribbled all the way to the 18-yard-box where he managed to chip the ball over Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei for the equalizer.
TAKEAWAYS
While the Sounders finished the game with eleven players, the team suffered another late-game mental collapse. Giving up a late equalizer due to lack of discipline will not sit well with a coach like Schmetzer who believes in attention to detail, a mental focus at all times in the game.
The return of Osvaldo Alonso was a significant improvement to the team defensively and overall mental toughness. The midfielder stalwart entered the game in the 68th minute for Handwalla Bwana. The Sounders are in need of stringing some wins together. In order for that to happen, the team will need to come before any individual agendas.
GAME NOTES
- Will Bruin scored Seattle’s first goal of the 2018 campaign in second-half stoppage time, leveling the match at 1-1 on assists from Nicolás Lodeiro and Chad Marshall. It marks Bruin’s 12th goal for Sounders FC since joining the club prior to the 2017 campaign. With 61 career MLS regular-season goals, Bruin is tied for eighth among active players. Bruin also recorded an assist on Roldan’s goal in the second half.
- Cristian Roldan scored a go-ahead goal in the 73rd minute for his first strike of the 2018 campaign. It marked the 11th career MLS regular-season goal for Roldan, who tallied a career-high six last season.
- Chad Marshall recorded his first assist of the season on Bruin’s strike, giving the center back 16 in 374 career appearances.
- Nicolás Lodeiro’s assist on Bruin’s first-half goal was the first of the season. The Uruguayan now has 21 career regular-season assists in just 48 appearances since signing with Sounders FC in July of 2016.
- Rookie Alex Roldan made his MLS start on Sunday alongside his brother Cristian, marking the seventh time in league history that brothers have started a match together (11th time that siblings played in the same match).
- With Alex recording an assist on Cristian’s goal in the 73rd minute, the pair became the fifth brothers in MLS history to combine for a score. The last time this occurred was August 1, 2015 when Shaun and Bradley Wright-Phillips combined for a New York Red Bulls goal.
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