Nashville completes season sweep against Sounders with another 1-0 win

Sometimes hiding the confines of home can help teams refocus after a hard loss. Note I said sometimes. Reeling from a dreadful 3-0  home loss to the  Portland Timbers last Saturday, the  Sounders landed in  Nashville for a midweek clash with  Nashville SC.  Seems the Sounders brought their excess baggage from the loss to the Timbers. For the second time, this season the Sounders suffered a 1-0 loss to Nashville. The previous loss was on February 27th Sounders’ season opener.

DECISION MAKING

The Sounders started out on the front foot and nearly scored minutes into the game when Jimmy Medranda’s found an open Cristian Roldan inside the Nashville penalty box inside the first two minutes of the game. Nashville keeper Joe Willis saved the shot. As in the Timbers game, the Sounders dominated the first ten minutes of the game and gradually allowed the home side to creep back in the game.

MISCOMMUNICATION

Seattle deployed a 5-4-1 formation with four changes from Saturday’s loss to the  Timbers. Stefan Cleveland, Abdoulaye Cissoko, Jimmy Medranda, and Fredy Montero replaced Stefan Frei, Jackson Ragen, Kelyn Rowe, and Raúl Ruidíaz. The issue was not so much who was on the pitch as much as it was how they communicated with each other. A growing concern is the lack of communication between the Sounders backline and the players in front them. That is the midfielders. A lack of cohesion is allowing opponents to place players between the Sounders backline and midfielders.

GAPING HOLES ALLOW FOR COUNTERATTACKS

The result of the lack of cohesion has the midfielders upfield with the ball and no back channels to use as an outlet. When the defenders do go up with the midfielders the heart of the Sounders defense is left wide open. With players pushed up the unforgivable sin is to lose the ball.  Wednesday night Nicolas Lodeiro lost the ball up the field. Nashville’s C.J Sapong scooped it up and found streaking forward Hany Mukhtar who rifled a right-footed shot past a guessing Cleveland just before the halftime whistle.

 HALFTIME CHANGES

Second-half substitutes Will  Bruin for Freddy Montero and Danny Leyva for  Jimmy  Medranda saw the Sounders win their lion’s share of possession but the equalizer never came due to another Sounders concern. Lack of creativity in the final third. Yes, the Sounders came close but just like in the Timbers game the inability to finish has the Sounders shaking their heads. No it’s not time to panic and in soccer goals come in bunches. What would help the Sounders would be more runs into the opponent’s goal box and quick passes to the players streaking towards the goal.

GAME NOTES

• Sounders FC now sits in eighth place in the Western Conference with 26 points (8-9-2) and has lost three of its past four games.

• Frei (Health & Safety Protocols) and Ruidíaz (right hamstring strain) were out for today’s match, joining João Paulo (right ACL tear) and Obed Vargas (lower back stress fracture) on the injury report.

• Cissoko made his fourth regular-season start of the season and his first since May 7 at FC Dallas.

• Xavier Arreaga came on as a substitute in the second half, his first appearance since June 18 vs. LAFC (left hamstring strain).

MATCH SUMMARY

Seattle Sounders FC 0 – Nashville SC 1

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Venue: GEODIS Park

Referee: Rubiel Vazquez

Assistants: Ian Anderson, Diego Blas

Fourth Official: Tim Ford

VAR: Younes Marrakchi

Attendance: 26,927

Weather: 84 degrees and clear

SCORING SUMMARY

NSH – Hany Mukhtar (C.J. Sapong, Randall Leal) 44’

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

NSH – Alex Muyl (caution) 45’+2’

NSH – Eric Miller (caution) 89’

LINEUPS & STATS

Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Cleveland; Alex Roldan (Xavier Arreaga 76’), Yeimar, Abdoulaye Cissoko (Léo Chú 76’), Nouhou, Jimmy Medranda (Danny Leyva 57’); Albert Rusnák, Cristian Roldan, Nico Lodeiro, Jordan Morris; Fredy Montero (Will Bruin 56’)

Substitutes not used: Andrew Thomas, Kelyn Rowe, Ethan Dobbelaere, Josh Atencio, Dylan Teves

Total shots: 9

Shots on goal: 2

Fouls: 14

Offside: 0

Corner-kicks: 2

Saves: 3

Nashville SC – Joe Wills; Daniel Lovitz, Jack Maher, Eric Miller, Alex Muyl (Dave Romney 88’), Walker Zimmerman; Dax McCarty, Randall Leal (Luke Haakenson 88’), Sean Davis (Teal Bunbury 74’); Hany Mukhtar, C.J. Sapong (Brian Anunga 74’)

Substitutes not used: Elliot Panicco, Ake Loba, Ethan Zubak, Josh Bauer, Taylor Washington

Total shots: 12

Shots on goal: 5

Fouls: 11

Offside: 3

Corner-kicks: 7

Saves: 2

– SOUNDERS FC