Match Data
SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 4 - Colorado Rapids 0
Saturday, September 29, 2018
Venue: Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field
Referee: Nima Saghafi
Assistants: Corey Rockwell, Felisha Mariscal
Fourth Official: Fotis Bazakos
VAR: Ramy Touchan
Attendance: 40,042
Weather: 69 degrees and partly sunny
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA - Raúl Ruidíaz (Nicolás Lodeiro, Cristian Roldan) 22’
SEA - Nicolás Lodeiro (penalty) 52’
SEA - Raúl Ruidíaz (Nicolás Lodeiro, Víctor Rodríguez) 73’
SEA - Víctor Rodríguez (Kelvin Leerdam) 80’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
COL - Kortne Ford (caution) 25’
SEA - Osvaldo Alonso (caution) 33’
COL - Tommy Smith (caution) 38’
COL - Jack Price (caution) 40’
COL - Enzo Martinez (caution) 54’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Kelvin Leerdam, Kim Kee-hee, Chad Marshall, Nouhou; Gustav Svensson (Handwalla Bwana 85’), Osvaldo Alonso - captain (Jordy Delem 77’), Cristian Roldan, Nicolás Lodeiro, Víctor Rodríguez; Raúl Ruidíaz (Will Bruin 75’)
Substitutes not used: Bryan Meredith, Alex Roldan, Román Torres, Waylon Francis
Total shots: 18 (Rodríguez, 5)
Shots on goal: 7 (Rodríguez, 3)
Fouls: 15 (Lodeiro, 3)
Offside: 1 (Ruidíaz, 1)
Corner-kicks: 5 (Lodeiro, 5)
Saves: 1 (Frei, 1)
Colorado Rapids - Tim Howard; Deklan Wynne, Tommy Smith, Danny Wilson, Kortne Ford (Marlon Hairston HT); Jack Prive, Dillon Serna, Nana Boateng (Niki Jackson 16’), Kellyn Acosta; Giles Barnes, Enzo Martinez (Johan Blomberg 70’)
Substitutes not used: Zac MacMath, Yannick Boli, Cole Bassett, Axel Sjoberg
Total shots: 8 (Serna, 3)
Shots on goal: 1 (Smith, 1)
Fouls: 15 (Acosta, 4)
Offside: 1 (Barnes, 1)
Corner-kicks: 4 (Acosta, 4)
Saves: 3 (Howard, 3)
Post-Match Quotes
SOUNDERS FC HEAD COACH BRIAN SCHMETZER
On Víctor Rodríguez’s performance:
“It’s always nice when players can look at the stat sheet and see their name on it. For us coaches, it’s maybe not as important. For you journalists, maybe it brings something a little different, like he’s playing better. I think what you see is a quality player, and he brings a lot of things outside of just goals and assists. What we have strived for is figuring out how to be goal dangerous from those wide positions. We can’t rely just on (Raúl) Ruidíaz. We can’t just rely on (Nicolas) Lodeiro. Is he a true goal-scoring No. 10? He’s actually got eight goals, so he’s actually doing well. But can Cristian (Roldan) and Víctor be goal dangerous? That’s always key. In that sense, it was good to see.”
On ending the two-match losing streak:
“I’ll be keen on seeing SaH ratings. Somebody was in a bad place. Hopefully he’s in a better place. The way this game turned out, though, was perhaps not as easy as the score line suggested because Anthony (Hudson) – he’s learning the league still – has his guys pressing up the field. His guys didn’t quit. So, that’s always the measuring stick for me as far as whether the coach has still got his group together. There were still some nervy moments. Could we have scored a second goal in the first half? Did we have a couple of chances to do that? Yes. But, at the end of the day, I think our quality showed through. It was a good performance to get us back up on the horse.”
On maintaining the effort levels throughout the match:
“Again, the halftime talk wasn’t all rosy, rosy. There were some determined remarks to make sure that they were going. Just giving my assistants a little more leeway to make sure that they talk to their individual players. To make sure that we keep the fires stoked a little bit. This time of year, players kind of tune out the head coach, so we’ve got to get a different voice in there. I think that helped. I think Gonzo, Djimi, Preki going around to individual guys, I think that’s always key. So, we want to make sure that when the game is there to be won, that we win that. We don’t want to become complacent. I think during the nine-game winning streak, which we’re all very proud of, maybe it was just my voice. It was just me, me, me. I think having some other guys talk to guys on an individual basis paid off for us tonight.”
On the outside backs:
“The left side is little different than the right side. Look, Nouhou’s great at certain things. And he needs to be better in other areas of the field. So, we wanted Víctor to stay a little bit wider because he’s a little bit more attack-minded. He’ll get the ball and really drive at people. And that’s not to say that Nouhou can’t attack, or that he shouldn’t be involved in the attack. But it’s a little bit different than Cristian and Kelvin (Leerdam). They’ve got a pretty good relationship going. When Kelvin goes, Cristian can drop. Their movement, they’re in sync a little bit better. So, I like that side to be a little bit more fluid. Who comes inside, who stays outside, those guys are more interchangeable. On the left side, we want Víctor to have his foot on the ball as much as possible. And Nouhou will be there supporting him as needed, going forward into the attack.”
On Raúl Ruidíaz and Nico Lodeiro’s partnership:
“You can say that it’s the relationship between Raúl and Nico, Raúl and Víctor, Raúl and Ozzie (Alonso), Raúl and Cristian. We have to remember, Raúl has 11 starts. There’s been a lot of history in MLS about mid-season signings not really catching on. So, I think we’ve done a good job. I think the front office has done a really good job of getting us a player that can actually fit in. So, I think in that sense, it is Nico and Ruidíaz because they’re in those central roles as a No. 9 and a No. 10. But, I think it manifests itself throughout the team as well.”
SOUNDERS FC FORWARD RAÚL RUIDÍAZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR)
On the overall feeling of the win:
“Very good, thank God I felt well, like all my other (teammates) and very happy about the result.”
On the importance of scoring early:
“I believe we had to open the scoreboard to start finding more space and create more opportunies.”
On how the Sounders were able to create space:
“The movement that we make on the pitch, it’s all key to how we create that space, and it’s what we practice during the week.”
On the performance of Nico Loderio:
“In reality we understand each other very well, every time he gets in possession of the ball I prepare to make the runs because I believe there’s going to be an opportunity and the possibility for goals.”
SOUNDERS FC MIDFIELDER NICOLÁS LODEIRO (WITH SOME TRANSLATION)
On the importance of the win:
“It was very important. It was most important for the team. For our confidence. We are happy.”
On the difference offensively:
“When we play at home it’s different. Here we feel different, we have more confidence in play. For attack, for defense, for everything. It is completely different.”
On how important it was for Víctor Rodríguez to get on the scoresheet:
“It’s very important to play with Víctor. I think the most important is for the team. For me, it’s important to play with Víctor because we have very good technique with our chemistry in the game. But the team needs him and we are happy for his goal and for his comeback. We know he can help a lot.”
SOUNDERS FC MIDFIELDER VÍCTOR RODRÍGUEZ
On going the full 90 minutes today:
“I need it. I need this game, I needed the result, I needed this goal. I think it’s very important for me, for the team, especially for me. I had a hard season with lots of injuries and I need this game and our fans with their help. It’s very important for me and I’m very happy for today.”
On his confidence when not on the pitch:
“I’m not 100%. I know where I can do a little bit more. But little by little, step by step, working a lot within the week, I’m very happy for the win today. This is the most important for us.”
On the importance with fellow players up top:
“It’s very important for me. I feel confident with (Loderio). I can play very easy with him, with (Ruidíaz), with (Cristian Roldan). Because we are smart players, small too. It’s easy for us, for understanding.”
—
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH ANTHONY HUDSON
On the match:
“In the end, overall, we got beat by them. They’re a better team. It’s a bad day. I think myself, the players, we’re all very disappointed. Today really highlights the gap in terms of where we’re at as a team. A team like Seattle ... we were completely out-classed in most departments. A disappointing day.”
On the early substitution of Niki Jackson for Nana Boateng:
“A few reasons really. We’re coming into the game understrength in terms of strikers. Their centerbacks were being quite physical and strong against Enzo (Martinez) and we weren’t keeping the ball. We wanted to get more of a threat in behind with Niki Jackson. That was the reason for that change. Again, it’s an area of the pitch where we’re not so much of a threat really, which is a challenge for us.”
On what he said at halftime being down only 1-0 at that point:
“In the second half, as soon as we came out, I thought we started quite well. I think we were a lot more aggressive and tried to impose ourselves on the game, but the penalty killed us. Then again, playing against a team like this with the quality that they have, you go two goals down and it’s just very, very tough. What we’ve done, and it’s difficult to say this in our position where we are in the table and results, but the reality is we have put together many, many very strong performances that haven’t translated to results. We’ve managed to put in strong performances, but we’ve been really squeezing so much out of the group and today really highlighted the gap. It’s just made things even more evident about what we know and what we need to improve on in the attacking areas of the pitch. It was not a good day for us.”
On LAFC coming up next and what the focus will be for this week’s preparations:
“The first thing we have to do is get fit because we’re carrying a lot of niggly injuries – Kortne Ford was another one that didn’t help with him coming off the pitch. We just have to try and get as many players back as possible. As well as getting players fit, one thing we did today was we didn’t change how we approach the game even with how light the squad was. We could’ve come in a little bit more compact and defensive, but we didn’t. We tried to stick true to what we believe in and try and push high up the pitch and try and be positive. For sure, we’re going to continue building and doing what we believe and get as many players as we can back fit.”
COLORADO RAPIDS FORWARD GILES BARNES
On today’s game:
“Disappointed. I feel it is never nice to take a defeat like that. It is a tough one to swallow right now, and to put into words quite frankly.”
On the halftime locker room feel:
“We were feeling good. When it is one goal, it can go either way. Unfortunately we have let it go the other way. We just need to get back on the training ground. We still heavily believe in what we are doing and we believe in each other. We know it wasn’t good enough, but we have to stay together in this tough period.”
On moving on to play LAFC:
“Getting this out of the system. We have to push forward and get that result out of the system. You know, think about it for the rest of this night, but then we have to focus on LAFC. We can’t keep dwelling on this performance, we have to get up, pick me up. You know the fans will come out for us at home so we’ve got to put on a show for them there.”
On closing out well at the end of the season:
“Yeah, I think it is definitely super important to do that. As I said, we believe heavily in what we are doing and what we are trying to achieve and the culture we are trying to have at this club. At times, there is a building period. I feel we have had a grace period from the fans and the staff to get it right, because we want to do things the correct way as we see going forward for next year. So, it is important that we keep working harder, that we keep focused, and we give all we have got for these last few games.”
COLORADO RAPIDS MIDFIELDER DILLON SERNA
On today’s game:
“Yeah, I think it was tough. I think there was good bits in the first half. Coming into halftime down 1-0 we thought like we were still in the game. I thought we started the second half really well, the first five, 10 minutes was good. Then after the penalty, things just kind of changed. I think we didn’t show the character we needed to show after the penalty.”
On the message from the coaching staff at halftime:
“Yeah, we were still in the game. They had maybe one or two chances and they took advantage of it and we felt we were still in the game. And, like I said, the second half I felt we started very well up until the penalty and then things kind of changed after that.”
On moving on to play LAFC at home next:
“I think, after a performance like this we have to focus on ourselves, nothing else. We are going back home. We are going to definitely show a bit more character next week and look to get a result at home for sure.”
On finishing strong at the end of the season:
“It is massive. I think everyone, you know, is playing for jobs, playing for contracts, playing for, you know, pride at this point. So, I think it is just about being professional, and fighting until the end.”