FULL-TIME: Jordan Morris came on at halftime and provided both goals and probably should have had a couple assists to lead the Seattle Sounders to a 2-1 come-from-behind win over the Chicago Fire.

SOUNDERS 2, FIRE 1: Jordan Morris scored his second of the night in the 93rd minute, redirecting a Cristian Roldan header off a João Paulo corner kick.

SOUNDERS 1, FIRE 1: Minutes after setting up the seeming equalizer only to have VAR disallow it, Jordan Morris scored his first goal of the MLS season off a wonderful cross from Cristian Roldan.

SOUNDERS 0, FIRE 1: The first half opened disastrously for the Sounders when Djordje Mihailovic got between a couple Sounders defenders and chested it down to Robert Beric for a relatively easy finish just 53 seconds in the second half.

HALFTIME: The Sounders had a couple pretty good looks, while the Fire had two goals correctly disallowed for offside but the first half still ended 0-0 despite a reasonably open game that went end to end.

TIFO: ECS unveiled their championship tifo, evoking newspaper headlines with the message “Keep writing history.”

LINEUPS: Given they played an elimination game a few days prior and are still missing a couple key starters, the Seattle Sounders put out a reasonably close approximation to their current first-choice lineup in the season-opener against the Chicago Fire on Sunday. Among the changes from their previous game are Danny Leyva starting at defensive midfield alongside Jordy Delem, Miguel Ibarra in place of Jordan Morris at left midfield and Joevin Jones moving to left back in place of Nouhou. Yeimar Gómez Andrade — who did not play against Olimpia while clearing up his visa situation — returns to the gameday roster but is not starting.

---

The Seattle Sounders open the 2020 MLS season at home against the Chicago Fire. The Sounders are coming into this game having just played on Thursday night in Concacaf Champions League. This will also be their third competitive match in 10 days.

The Fire should be well rested coming into this match as they have had no competitive matches so far this season but conditioning for them could become a factor.

This is the 13th all-time meeting between these two. The Sounders hold a 8-2-4 advantage in the series and that includes their 4-0-2 record at home. Seattle is 7-4-0 in their MLS regular season home openers.

Absences: Injury, international duty and suspension

Sounders

OUT: Nicolas Lodeiro (hamstring tendinitis), Gustav Svensson (calf strain), Will Bruin (ACL tear

Fire

None

Officials

Referee: Alex Chilowicz

Assistants: Jeremy Kieso, Cory Richardson

Fourth Official: Ismir Pekmic

VAR: Victor Rivas, Fabio Tovar

Keys to the Game:

• Start strong: There’s no better to shake off the feelings from Thursday’s loss than to feed off the energy in the stadium from the banner unveiling and jump on the Fire early. This is a team that will likely be improved from last year but is still finding their footing. Don’t let them get comfortable.
• Get Ruidíaz going: Raúl Ruidíaz is contributing even when he’s not scoring, but he’s at his best when he’s finding the back of the net. It’s only been two games, but he’s yet to get that feeling. Now seems a good time to get it back.
• Settle the back: The defense has been a bit shaky during the first two games, but they’ve clearly got the talent to a solid unit. Xavier Arreaga, in particular, could use a confidence-inspiring performance. It’s unclear with whom he’ll be paired, but he’s the veteran and the presumed No. 1 centerback. Let’s see him play like it.

How to Watch

Match date/time: Sunday, March 1, noon (kickoff will likely be closer to 12:30 p.m.)

Venue: CenturyLink Field, Seattle

Online Streaming: YouTube TV, WatchESPN, Fubo TV (affiliate link)

National English TV: ESPN (Adrian Healey Alejandro Moreno, Sebastian Salazar)

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

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

Lineups

Chicago Fire

Highlights will be posted as the match progresses.

This is Seattle Sounders vs Fire; 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.