I had just sat down when Jordan Morris pounced on the back pass to score within 45 seconds of kick off.

Winners

Next Man Up

When the lineup was announced an hour before kick off, the Sounders could only dress 17 players. They were without six of their 14 most-used players. Handwalla Bwana, Harry Shipp, Jordy Delem, and Roman Torres all started. To put that into context, they collectively had made zero starts this year as of last Saturday. At certain points in the match today, they were all involved in key points. Bwana was exceptional at tracking back and helping Brad Smith defend Carlos Vela. Delem and Torres were great at cleaning up the messes that LAFC created in attacking positions.

Sounders Character

A lot can be said about the results this week being less than ideal from the Sounders perspective, but you have to tip your hat to the team’s ability to put together the performances they put on in the second half of the San Jose game and in the LAFC game. A week ago LAFC played the Sounders off the pitch. Today’s match was wild from the get go, and the Sounders’ ability to pull out a performance like that is something that should be admired.

Losers

Refereeing Spotlight

It is never a good thing when a referee is arguably the biggest talking point in a match. That’s exactly what happened today. A lot of discussion will surround the two red card incidents, but I thought Ted Unkel’s whole performance was just down right bad. And you know what? He does too.

Late Arrivers

It’s kind of a cliche at this point where people arrive to their seats late at sporting events, but even if you were a minute late you would’ve missed this goal.

Chances are you might have missed the second one, which came just three minutes later, too.

Available bodies

With Cristian Roldan and Kelvin Leerdam presumably being suspended for next week’s match against Minnesota United, the Sounders could be without 8 of their 14 most used players. Now, it’s possible that any one of the injured Sounders players could make the lineup next week, but it’s definitely a trying time for the Sounders’ depth. When it rains, it pours.

Now it’s your turn. What were your winners and losers?