FINAL: The Sounders win a barn burner thanks to an 89th minute goal from Cristian Roldan. While Schmetzer will surely be frustrated that the Sounders let another lead slip at home while also allowing three goals for the third straight outing at CenturyLink, the Sounders will gladly take three points over their Western Conference rival. The win puts Seattle back in second place of their conference.

SOUNDERS 4, GALAXY 3: Roldan grabs a brace and Brad Smith proves his worth once more with a clinical assist as the Sounders reclaim the lead. Smith made a smart underlap run to receive the ball from Morris before slotting the ball across the box for a streaking Roldan to finish.

SOUNDERS 3, GALAXY 3: The Sounders defensive woes continue as they give up their third goal of the half. Galaxy left back Jorgen Skjelvik slipped behind Abdul-Salaam far too easily en route to tying the game.

SOUNDERS 3, GALAXY 2: Jordan Morris and Raul Ruidiaz pull off a nifty 1-2 to free Morris directly through the gut of the Galaxy back line. Morris cooly finishes the break away for his eighth goal of the season.

SOUNDERS 2, GALAXY 2: The Sounders let the Galaxy back into the game after Uriel Antuna finished a cheeky, if not entirely unintentional assist from Ibrahimovic. The play developed from a chipped ball into the box by Cristian Pavon.

SOUNDERS 2, GALAXY 1: The Galaxy pull one back off an Ibrahimovic (who else would it be?) header. Zlatan skied above Gustav Svensson and Cecchini to finish off the Sebastian Lletget corner kick.

SOUNDERS 2, GALAXY 0: Sounders double their lead as Cristian Roldan smashes home a shot from inside the box. Roldan collected the ball after the Galaxy failed to clear a Nico Lodeiro corner. The goal had been in the works for the better part of five minutes in which the Sounders created sustained pressure in the final third.

HALFTIME: After forty-five minutes of cagey defense and half chances, the Sounders broke through in stoppage time to take a 1-0 lead into the break. The Sounders have mostly kept Zlatan in check, limiting the prolific striker to only one clean look on goal. Though the Galaxy have dominated the ball, Seattle look like the team in control, nearly adding a second goal courtesy of Raul Ruidiaz before the halftime whistle.

SOUNDERS 1, GALAXY 0: The Sounders draw first blood as Raul Ruidiaz slipped in unmarked on a back post run to finish off a Nico Lodeiro box cross. The sequence came after the Sounders overloaded the right wing and freed Saad Abdul-Slaam to play an early ball into the box. The Galaxy were were first to the ball but scuffed the clearance, allowing Lodeiro to pounce on the second ball and pick up his 12^th assist of the season.

SOUNDERS 0, GALAXY 0: Jordy Delem removed from the match for Emanuel Cecchini. Delem appeared to suffer a head injury after a scary collision with Xavier Arreaga in the Sounders penalty box. Both players went up to clear the ball but collided with each other instead.

LINEUPS: With the exception of Saad Abdul-Salaam replacing Kelvin Leerdam (out for yellow card accumulation), the Sounders roll out the same lineup that got them them a derby win against Portland last week. For the Galaxy, Zlatan Ibrahimovic makes his CenturyLink Field debut. The international superstar didn’t travel the last time the Galaxy came to town.

---

Here we go again. For the second time in two weeks, the Seattle Sounders will be playing the LA Galaxy. Barring what would qualify as a massive surprise, it will mark the first time Zlatan Ibrahimovic has played at CenturyLink Field. He will surely be a handful and the focus of the Sounders’ defensive gameplan.

Stopping him is, of course, far easier said than done. Ibrahimovic is riding a three-game scoring streak in which he scored a brace in each match and now has 22 goals in 22 games for the season. One of those three games was against the Sounders when Ibahimovic posterized Kim Kee-hee on one goal and then drew a penalty on the Korean centerback to set up his second.

A win will catapult the Sounders from fifth to second in the Western Conference standings and leave them six points clear of the playoff line.

Absences: Injury, international duty and suspension

Seattle

Out: Will Bruin (torn ACL), Victor Rodriguez

Questionable: N/A

Suspensions: Roman Torres, Kelvin Leerdam

International Duty: N/A

Suspended next yellow: Nicolas Lodeiro, Nouhou

Galaxy

Out: Romain Alessandrini

Questionable: Perry Kitchen (groin injury)

Suspensions: N/A

International Duty: N/A

Suspended next yellow: Favio Alvarez, Rolf Feltscher, Diego Polenta

Keys to the Game:

• Shut down Zlatan: As good as Ibrahimovic is, he comprises a hilariously large portion of the Galaxy’s offensive production. Cristian Pavon is the only other Galaxy player to score a goal during this stretch of individual dominance, while LA has gone 1-0-2. The Galaxy’s second-leading scorer this year has just three goals and only five players have scored more than once. In other words, shutting down Ibrahimovic usually means shutting down the whole team.
• Feed Morris: The Galaxy had not answer for Jordan Morris in the last meeting, but the Sounders seemed reluctant to try to exploit that too much. Last week’s performance against the Timbers suggests maybe they’ve collectively gotten over that reluctance. Get Morris the ball in the open field and good things are bound to happen.
• Watch Pavon: Kelvin Leerdam’s suspension means that Saad Abdul Salaam is back in the starting lineup. He’s mostly been fine when asked to play this year and will be surrounded by a capable group. But he’ll have his hands full with Cristian Pavon, who has been emerging as a second offensive threat for the Galaxy.

How to Watch

Match date/time: Sunday, 3:30 p.m.

Venue: CenturyLink Field, Seattle

Online Streaming: YouTube TV, Fox Sports Go, Fubo TV (affiliate link)

National English TV: FS1 (John Strong, Stu Holden and Katie Witham)

Local Radio: 950 KJR-AM Seattle (Johnson, Keller)

Local Spanish Radio: El Rey 1360 AM (Rodriguez, Maqueda, Tapia)

Lineups

Highlights will be posted as the match progresses.

This is Seattle Sounders vs Galaxy; watch with us

Sounder at Heart has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though Sounder at Heart may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.