It was supposed to be a colossal showdown between two of the winningest MLS Clubs since 2019. The local narrative was that Saturday night’s match with the LAFC provided an opportunity for the Rave Green to continue their winning ways with a statement win over an LAFC Club they had not beaten since May 16, 2021. Riding a five-game MLS win streak and losers of just two in their last 18th matches, the Rave Green was more than ready.
ROTATED LINE UP
As the saying goes, be careful what you ask for. You might get it. And get it, they did. Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer rotated his line-up, inserting Pedro del a Vega at left midfield and Reed Baker-Whiting at proper back for Leo Chu and Alex Roldan.
The rotated line-up looked as if Schmetzer had struck gold when de la Vega was active in the first five minutes of the game. The home side had a corner in the 7th minute, which went begging when Yeimar’s header from an Albert Rusnâk corner kick was high and wide. The visitors took advantage of a lethargic home side that was slow to react and out of sync.
COSTLY ERRORS EARLY
The visitors made the Sounders pay in the 16th minute when LA midfielder Eduard Atuesta streaked down the left side and slid a ball into the Seattle goal box, which was deflected and created a mad scramble in front of a diving Stefan Frei. When the dust settled, the visitors were awarded a penalty for a handball infraction on Nouhou. LAFC striker Denis Bouanga calmly hit the ball down the middle past the diving Frei. The visitors doubled their lead in the 25th minute when a meek clear by Frei sent the ball to the feet of LAFC forward Mateusz Bogusz.
The in-form striker promptly half-volleyed the ball into the back of the Sounders goal for his 13th goal of the season. The Sounders were able to get a foothold in the game and dominated the last 15 minutes of the first half. A lack of tenacity, courage, and dynamism in the attack saw the team enter the dressing room with a two-goal deficit.
IMPROVED PLAY
As has been the case all year, the Sounders came out of the restart energetic, determined, and clearly understood the gravity of the situation. Paul Rothrock replaced De la Vega, who had reached his minute count. The Sounders started passing the ball around the pitch, which resulted in a massive possession advantage. The insertion of Raul Ruidiaz for Nouhou and Alex Roldan for Joáo Paulo increased the dominance in the game.
With the increased possession, the Sounders had several good looks at the LA goal in the first twenty minutes of the second half. For all of their good looks at goal, the Sounders lacked that finishing touch in front of goal. That was not the case for the visitors, who made it 3-0 on a Bouanga breakaway goal. The Sounders continued to fight but could not get the ball past LAFC goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
THE BIG TAKE
Give credit to his coach, Bran Schmetzer, for falling on the sword for his team’s performance. In all fairness, good coaches will never publicly blame a loss on his team. Schmetzer mentioned that the effort made by the players and coaches was not enough. My blame with Schmetzer was not with the rotated lineup but that the lineup needed a game together before playing the best teams in the league. The team needed to gain familiarity. The other take is that the Sounders have played more dynamic soccer as a team. You need courage, unselfishness, and connectedness to play that dynamic soccer. Sounders did not play with any of those against their Western Conference Rivals.
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- Despite losing Leg One 2-0 to Tigres UANL, the Sounders see positives for Leg Two.
- Mariners facing early adversity and test of their mental fortitude
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GAME NOTES
MATCH NOTES
- Sounders FC now sits in seventh in the Western Conference with 37 points (10-8-7), just one point shy of fifth-place Vancouver.
- Seattle is now 3-9-4 all-time against LAFC in MLS regular-season play, including a seven-match winless streak (0-5-2).
- The loss snaps a six-match winning streak and eight-match unbeaten streak across all competitions for Seattle. The result marks the club’s third loss in its last 19 games across all competitions (11-3-5).
- Seattle and LAFC meet again on Tuesday, August 27 in the Semifinals of the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup at Starfire Stadium.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 0 – Los Angeles FC 3
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Venue: Lumen Field
Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistants: Andrew Bigelow, Diego Blas
Fourth Official: Elijio Arreguin
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
Attendance: 32,905
Weather: 80 degrees and sunny
SCORING SUMMARY
LAFC – Denis Bouanga 16’
LAFC – Mateusz Bogusz 26’
LAFC – Denis Bouanga (Kei Kamara) 74’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SEA – Nouhou (caution) 14’
SEA – João Paulo (caution) 45’ + 9’
SEA – Paul Rothrock (caution) 55’
LAFC – Mateusz Bogusz (caution) 62’
LAFC – Jesús Murillo (caution) 85’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei – Captain; Reed Baker-Whiting, Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Jackson Ragen, Nouhou (Raúl Ruidíaz 56’); Obed Vargas, João Paulo (Alex Roldan 56’); Cristian Roldan (Danny Musovski 73’), Albert Rusnák, Pedro de la Vega (Paul Rothrock 46’); Jordan Morris
Substitutes not used: Andrew Thomas, Cody Baker, Jonathan Bell, Danny Leyva, Léo Chú
Total shots: 20
Shots on goal: 5
Fouls: 10
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 6
Saves: 1
LAFC – Hugo Lloris; Omar Campos (Ryan Hollingshead 78’), Aaron Long (Eddie Segura 70’), Maxime Chanot, Jesús Murillo, Sergi Palencia; Eduard Atuesta, Ilie Sánchez (Erik Dueñas 86’), Mateusz Bogusz (David Martínez 77’); Denis Bouanga, Nathan Ordaz (Kei Kamara 69’)
Substitutes not used: Abraham Romero, Thomas Musto, Tomás Ángel
Total shots: 7
Shots on goal: 4
Fouls: 12
Offside: 2
Corner-kicks: 2
Saves: 4
