Sounders vs. New York City FC, recap: What an awful performance

As the Sounders welcomed NYCFC to town, the home side hoped that they could get a far better result than the one they left New York with last weekend. It was not meant to be. NYCFC arrived with all three Designated Players in the starting lineup, and managed to deal the Sounders a 2-0 defeat.

The Sounders, whose lineup was unchanged from the one that lost 2-0 to the Red Bulls last Sunday, looked good in the opening minutes, but it was clear that their accuracy in front of goal was still rather poor. Aaron Kovar and Jordan Morris combined for a few good chances, but Morris missed each of his opportunities. The Sounders seemed keen to step off NYCFC’s players, giving guys like Pirlo way more space than they should. Either way, NYC had a couple of chances early but none of them really threatened Stefan Frei’s goal. Controversy struck when Frank Lampard was awarded a goal that, upon seeing video replays, was clearly knocked into the goal by his flailing wrist. The Sounders almost gave away another right afterwards, as Stefan Frei punched a near-own goal over the bar.

The second half also started well for both teams, as Morris had another excellent chance early that went just wide. NYC countered immediately after, and nearly had a goal were it not for a great save by Frei. A few changes came around 15-20 minutes into the half, first Nelson Valdez for Dylan Remick (Jones moved to left-back) and later Cristian Roldan for Aaron Kovar. Things got a little more positive for the Sounders after that second sub, and Andreas Ivanschitz came agonizingly close to an equalizer from a direct free kick just outside the box. Still nothing went the Sounders’ way, as Schmid even threw Oalex Anderson onto the pitch with about 15 minutes to spare, hoping to find any sort of breakthrough that could earn them a point. Seattle was pushing up all over the pitch, but they still couldn’t find a way to get the ball in the net.

They were eventually punished, after a poor back pass from Jones was picked up by NYC—the initial shot was saved well by Stefan Frei, but the rebound fell to Matarrita, who knocked it into an open net. The match ended 2-0 as the Sounders lost their second straight match to a New York club.