By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

Sounders find offense still struggling with closing out games

The Seattle Sounders played adequate and uninspired soccer for the first 60-plus minutes in their match against St. Louis City on Saturday  Night.  Unlike most of their contests this season, the Sounders found an extra gear that saw them score two quick goals minutes apart in the 66th and 69th minute. Technically the goal in the 66th minute was officially ruled an own goal.  Like most of their games this season the Sounders allowed their opponent to get back in the game and nearly equalize before finding their resolve and securing all three points in the 2-1 win.

TOUGH START TO FIND  TRACTION AND RHYTHM

The biggest pregame news was the absence of Pedro de la Vega from the bench. The Argentine played 14 minutes in the team’s 1-1 draw with Vancouver after rehabbing a leg injury for two months.  Head coach Brian Schmetzer addressed De la Vega’s absence as a precautionary measure.  On the pitch, the Sounders struggled to find rhythm and pace with  Schmetzer’s lineup of inserting Cristian Ronald next to  Joao Paulo in a holding midfield role with  Albert Rusnack in an advanced midfield role.

   Cody Baker started at left back for  Nouhou who was serving his suspension for the red car he received in the Vancouver game. The struggle by the  Sounders was the same old story a lack of possession with a purpose. The Sounders had the ball 59 % of the time in the first half with no shots on goal.  St. Louis generated two shots on goal with a 41% possession rate.

A QUICK START TO THE SECOND HALF

The game flipped on its head to start the second half with both teams throwing caution to the wind resulting in a wide open endline to endline contest.  For the home side, the insertion of  Nökkvi Thórisson for Indiana Vassilev allowed for a high press and tip the scales towards St Louis. With his side struggling to get the ball upfield Schmetzer replaced Reed Baker-Whiting for Cody Baker.  The insertion of the cerebral Baker-Whiting brought calm to the Sounders backline and allowed Alex Roldan to push up the field.

 INTRICATE MIDFIELD PLAY

Alex  Roldan’s venture into the attacking third played big dividends for the Sounders.  His pass from the right flank to Albert Runsack slid the ball to  Cristian  Roldan who had his shot deflected for the own goal. While the score sheet will say own goal the credit goes to the Rave Green’s midfield for the intricate place in space.  The passing and moving into space has been missing all season. Three minutes later Rusnack continued his precision passing when  Raul Ruidiaz gave him a wall pass that he slid to a streaking Jordan Morris for the 2-0 lead.

NEARVEY ENDING  

The Sounder’s inability to close out games has been a season-long disappointing issue.  The lack of purposeful possession, communication between the three lines, and  Schmetzer’s substitution patterns are to blame. Against St. Louis with the 2-0 lead Schmetzer inserted Danny Masovski for  Raul Ruidiaz and Kalani Kossa-Rienzi for Joao Paulo in the 78th minute.  The Masovski for  Ruidiaz makes sense. Not so sure about the Rienzi sub. While the youngster earned some playing time due to his stellar play in the Sounder’s win over the  Phoenix Rising inserting him in the 78th  minute was too early. 85th  minute would have made more sense or better yet a  Danny Leyva. In the end a win is a win. Give the Sounders credit for a difficult road win that vaults them into a playoff position.

POST MATCH NOTES

  • The result vaults Sounders FC into a playoff position, currently at ninth place Western Conference with 17 points (4-6-5), one point above 10th-place St. Louis with 16 points (3-4-7).
  • Seattle is now 3-0-0 with a 7-1 goal advantage against St. Louis since CITY SC joined MLS last season.
  • Morris scored his third goal of the season in the 69th minute, his second consecutive match with a goal after finding the net against Vancouver last weekend. The Mercer Island native now has 69 goals in all competitions for the Rave Green, third in club history.
  • Albert Rusnák recorded his team-leading fifth assist of the season on Morris’ goal. He now has eight goals and 11 assists in MLS regular-season play since joining the club prior to the 2022 campaign.
  • St. Louis has suffered an own goal in all three matchups with Seattle dating back to last season.
  • Tacoma Defiance midfielder Kalani Kossa-Rienzi made his MLS debut in the 78th minute. The University of Washington product previously appeared in both of Sonders FC’s Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup matches this year, all via Short-Term Agreements.

MATCH SUMMARY

Seattle Sounders FC 2 – St. Louis CITY SC 1

Saturday, May 25, 2024

Venue: CITYPARK

Referee: Lukasz Szpala

Assistants: Matthew Nelson, Ricardo Ocampo

Fourth Official: JC Griggs

VAR: Carol Anne Chenard

Attendance: 22,500

Weather: 73 degrees and clear

SCORING SUMMARY

SEA – Own Goal (Kyle Hiebert) 66’

SEA – Jordan Morris (Albert Rusnák) 69’

STL – Tomas Totland (Eduard Löwen) 82’

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

STL – Indiana Vassilev (caution) 35’

STL – Njabulo Blom (caution) 39’

STL – Chris Durkin (caution) 49’

SEA – Kalani Kossa-Rienzi (caution) 80’

SEA – Yeimar Gómez Andrade (caution) 85’

LINEUPS & STATS

Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei – captain; Alex Roldan (Paul Rothrock 87’), Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Jackson Ragen, Cody Baker (Reed Baker-Whiting 61’); Cristian Roldan, João Paulo (Kalani Kossa-Rienzi* 78’); Obed Vargas, Albert Rusnák, Jordan Morris; Raúl Ruidíaz (Danny Musovski 78’)

Substitutes not used: Andrew Thomas, Stuart Hawkins, Danny Leyva, Sota Kitahara, Dylan Teves

*Tacoma Defiance player on Short-Term Agreement

Total shots: 7

Shots on goal: 1

Fouls: 9

Offside: 0

Corner-Kicks: 1

Saves: 4

St. Louis CITY SC – Roman Bürki; Kyle Hiebert, Joakim Nilsson, Tim Parker, Tomas Totland; Chris Durkin, Njabulo Blom (Aziel Jackson 70’); Célio Pompeu, Indiana Vassilev (Nökkvi Thórisson 57’), Rasmus Alm (Eduard Löwen 70’); João Klauss

Substitutes not used: Anthony Markanich, Samuel Adeniran, Joshua Yaro, Akil Watts, Benjamin Lundt, Hosei Kijima

Total shots: 24

Shots on goal: 5

Fouls: 14

Offside: 0

Corner-kicks: 6

Saves: 0

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