The Seattle Sounders pulled off an implausible 3-2 comeback win over the Minnesota Loons to head back to their fourth MLS Cup in the last five years. The Rave Green scored three goals in the last 18 minutes of their Western Conference Final at Lumen Field Monday Night. Gustav Svensson’s header off a corner kick in the 93rd minute capped the miraculous comeback win.
TWO QUALITY TEAMS
The game was advertised as a faced paced match with quality players who were intent on scoring . The players did not disappoint. Both teams went up and down the pitch. The Sounders attacked the Loons right side with Nicolas Lodeiro trying to exploit Jordan Morris speed. Minnesota took a different route.
There plan was to attack the middle of the Sounders defense with intricate passing between midfielder Emanuel Reynoso, Chase Gasper and winger Kevin Molin. The passing between the Loons players forced the Sounders defense into two yellow card infractions on five fouls.
While the Sounders caused seven fouls there were no yellow card infractions. The Sounders foul in the 29th had the first dramatic impact on the game. Shane O’neill fouled Loons winger Ethan Finlay. Midfielder Reynoso showed his brilliance when his left footed shot beat the Sounders wall and Stefan Frei for the 1-0 lead.
VISITORS CONTINUE TO PUSH FORWARD
The Loons started the second half the way they finished the first half. Pushing the ball forward with intricate passes leading to half chances. The Sounders played their part pushing the ball forward and looked to have tied the game in the 53rd minute. A VAR review determined that Ruidiaz had committed a foul before receiving the ball from Cristian Roldan and rifling it into the back of the goal. Minnesota doubled their lead in the 67th on another set piece goal. A Reynoso corner kick was headed into the back of the net by defender Bakaye Dibassy
URGENCY WITH PATIENCE
With a sense of belief Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer looked to his veteran bench for inspiration and execution. In came Kelvin Leerdam for Alex Roldan and Brad Smith for Nouhou. The insertion of Leerdam and Smith gave the Sounders speed at the right and left back positions. With speed in wingback positions Schmetzer brought in offensive firepower with the insertion of forward Will Bruin for midfielder Joao Paulo. The personnel moves were pure magic as Bruin scored just two minutes later to narrow the deficit to 2-1.
Schmetzer then replaced Joevin Jones with Gustav Svensson in the center of the field With speed and the steady Svensson in the middle with Lodeiro Schmetzer switched to a 4-4-2 formation. The extra players in the midfield turned into extra possession and the result was a Ruidiaz equalizer in the 89th minute. The Sounders continued to push forward and turn the unbelievable to the believable on Svensson’s game winning corner kick header.
