On paper, Saturday’s match was a disappointment for the Seattle Sounders, as they led twice but twice allowed the Chicago Fire to equalize. Seattle’s winless run in MLS play is now into the double digits at a staggering 10 matches going back to mid-May.

However, 38,000 fans got to witness perhaps the best debut in club history, as Dejan Joveljic started and stunned in his first game in Seattle. 

Despite not getting the win, Seattle and Chicago both put on a show and gave some life to a team and fanbase that has been begging for reasons to cheer since returning from the World Cup Break.

Pre-Match anticipation and Starting 11:

The squad put out by Brian Schmetzer for Sunday’s Matinee looked about as strong as an injury-riddled Sounders could manage, with the party-piece being the debut of Seattle’s new #9, Dejan Joveljic. 

With Peter Kingston out for yellow-card accumulation, Alex Roldan stepped into holding midfield with Snyder Brunell and Albert Rusnak, two of the consistent bright spots of Seattle’s recent poor run of form, joining Roldan in the middle of the park.

Sebastian Gomez made his second straight start on the wing, with Paul Rothrock in his favored left wing position.

A week after starting a back-five against Cincinnati, Schmetzer went back to his favored 4-2-3-1 formation, with a back four including last match’s goalscoring hero Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, Kim Kee-Hee, Stuart Hawkins and Nouhou. 

Christian Roldan and Hassani Dotson both returned to the team sheet, starting the match on the bench as much-needed reinforcements after losing time to injuries. 

With the Sounders’ biggest midseason acquisition in years on the pitch, and the third deck at Lumen Field opened for a sun-bathed Saturday afternoon, one of the biggest crowds and biggest stages of 2026 was set.

Quick Start

Positive signs came early on for Seattle as a pair of volleys from 18 yards out troubled Chicago’s backline, with the club clearly feeding off the energy and buildup to the match.

Through the first 25 minutes of the match, not only had Seattle held Chicago to just a couple of half-chances, but the Fire were yet to register a touch in the Sounders penalty area.

Jovelic delivers as advertised

It only took 12 minutes for Dejan Jovelic to truly establish himself as the Sounders symbol of hope for 2026, depositing a debut goal with only his third touch in Rave Green.

A clever give-and-go between Kalani Kossa-Rienzi and Sebastian Gomez at the top of the box gave Gomez room to drive towards the endline before rolling a centering pass toward Joveljic, who calmly swept the ball into the twine. 

It’s the first time a starting striker has scored for Seattle in MLS play in 2026, and the first home lead held by the club in league play since their 3-2 win over San Jose on May 13th. 

12 minutes marks the fastest debut goal by a Sounder to start a match since Fredy Montero scored Seattle’s first-ever MLS goal 12 minutes into their inaugural game in 2009. Paul Rothrock still holds Seattle’s record for quickest debut goal overall, scoring two minutes into his debut off the bench.

It’s also the first MLS assist in the young career of 20-year-old Sebastian Gomez, with Kalani Kossa-Rienzi being credited with a well-deserved secondary assist.

Chicago steals the momentum

In the latter half of the first 45 Chicago started to truly show the class of a top-three team in the East, getting their feet under them and pushing Seattle’s backline to the limit, ringing a shot off the crossbar in the 37th before equalizing in the 38th off a well-taken strike from Maren Haile-Selassie. The assist was a lovely flick from Robert Lewandowski in a tight space.

The goal was coming, as Chicago completely turned the tide of the match, registering their first six shots in the span of 15 minutes and putting four of them on net.

1-1 at the break, as it was a tale of two halves in the first half. Seattle looked electrified in the first 25 before falling back into some of the patterns that have led to the club’s 9-game winless streak in MLS play.

Dejan Joveljic’s dream debut continues

Dejan Joveljic could have done nothing for the entirety of the second half, and Sounders fans still would have been thrilled with his first match for the club. But the Serbian truly outdid himself with his second goal of the afternoon. 

Just three minutes after the start of the half, Seattle found a groove down the right side of the pitch, with Snyder Brunnell getting it central to Albert Rusnak, who rolled it to Dejan Joveljic at the top of the box. Joveljic wound up and hit a heat-seeking missile off the fingertips of the keeper, off the bar and in, sending Lumen Field into a frenzy as the Rave Green faithful started to truly believe they were witnessing a midseason renaissance.

More history for Dejan, as he becomes the fastest player in club history to record their first brace, narrowly beating out Freddy Montero’s two in 75 minutes in 2009.

Roldan, Morris and Dotson return

The third and fourth time the crowd rose to their feet wasn’t to celebrate goals, but to welcome Christian Roldan, Jordan Morris and Hassani Dotson back to the field.

Roldan replaced Snyder Brunell in the 56th minute. Dotson and Morris entered in the 69th minute in place of Alex Roldan and Sebastian Gomez.

Roldan was playing at an elite level before injury himself on international duty with the USNMT at the World Cup, and if he can return to the form he had in May, it will be key to the Sounders looking and playing like the Seattle Sounders. 

Back to hanging on

Following Seattle’s second go-ahead goal, the match looked more similar to late in the first half, with a couple of saves from Andrew Thomas and a heroic Kim Kee-Hee slide tackle kept Seattle in front only temporarily. 

That was until the 82nd minute, when a back-post cross from Puso Dithejane forced an aerial duel between Robert Lewandowski and Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, a matchup with a somewhat predictable outcome, as Chicago’s star man rose above and headed in from point-blank range, 2-2.

Lewandowski almost gave Chicago a lead a couple minutes later but rushed a shot from 15 yards and an acre of space, putting it straight at Thomas.

The final action of the match was Andrew Thomas diving to his left to pluck a powerful shot out of the air and prompt the full-time whistle.

After several home games ending with a chorus of boos, this time the Rave Green faithful applauded an entertaining effort and hard-fought result against a quality side.

Post-match quotes:

“This draw feels like a loss… we need to close that game out”

-Brian Schmetzer

Brian Schmetzer was unsurprisingly less than satisfied with the result, but quick to sing the praises of his new striker.

“He makes everyone around him better…I tried to take some pressure off him and distribute it amongst the players… he said after we gave him the game ball that he came here not just to score but to win”

-Brian Schmetzer

Schmetzer recognized the excellent first phase of the match, but once again, continuity of quality was the missing piece. 

“The first 15 25 minutes, I wish I coulda recreated that and kept that going.”

-Brian Schmetzer

“I think our fans have been clambering for some excitement… we would have liked to be a little more boring, and we win 2-1.”

-Brian Schmetzer

Joveljic stayed confident and optimistic about the rest of 2026 in his first post-match presser.

“These guys are experienced and hungry. That’s the difference between this team and the rest of the league.”

-Dejan Joveljic

“If I get the chances, I can score lots of goals.”

-Dejan Joveljic

The players shared the sentiment of their coach, with Christian Roldan speaking on the match and his return:

“This game slipped away. I think we can be honest with ourselves, we gave up a few too many chances and the game was a bit too open at 2-1.”

-Chritstian Roldan

Roldan was grateful for the warm welcome back to Lumen Field.

“I wish I had that experience at the World Cup… I’ll be the first to admit I’m a bit rusty… very humbling to hear the roar, but it’s not just one player that’s going to change this.

-Christian Roldan

Roldan also confirmed the Sounders’ intention to give their new striker the ball as much as possible.

“We’re going to have to provide a lot of service to Deki. He was at his best when he had guys down the wing providing that service.”

-Christian Roldan