Not every win has to be pitch perfect. Sometimes you need to win ugly, win lucky, and win gritty — especially at the end of the season, on the road, and on short rest. After all, 6 points in 4 days is pretty nice.

Winners

Nico Lodeiro

Nico Lodeiro was (as always) integral to Seattle’s attack against Houston, assisting on all three of Seattle’s goals. With his third and final assist of the game, he became Seattle’s all time leader in assists, passing* Fredy Montero and Mauro Rosales. His second assist of the night also gave him the Sounders’ single-season record, previously held by Rosales. Collectively, the three assists also tied the franchise record for assists in a game (Brad Evans had three assists against Chivas USA in 2013).

*pun intended

Set Pieces

Seattle’s first two goals came from corner kicks scored by Chad Marshall and Gustav Svensson, respectively. Oh, and Houston scored on a set piece too.

Losers

Benched Bear

Will Bruin had scored in his last four appearances against his former team, but in this match he was an unused sub with Raul Ruidiaz returning from international duty. While scoring against a former team is nice, I’m sure Bruin is just as happy with the three points.

Second Best has to be Best

Due to how the other Western Conference games shook out, the best position that the Sounders can now finish is 2nd. This is what has to happen next weekend for that to happen:

• Sounders win and Dallas drops points on the road against the Rapids.
• Sporting Kansas City win, Dallas loss, and Sounders draw

It’s also not completely settled that Seattle will host a knockout round game. If Seattle loses at home to San Jose, while Portland wins against Vancouver, then the Timbers would host the Sounders. So, let’s not do that. Seattle needs to focus on winning against San Jose, and then worry about how the rest of the West shakes out from there.

Left back

Nouhou subbed off in the 82nd minute with an apparent leg injury, but the severity of the issue is unknown at this time. That would leave the Sounders down to starting an out-of-favor Waylon Francis at left back heading into the playoffs.

Yikes.