FULL-TIME — It wasn’t always pretty, and much of what had been good looked outright bad for stretches in the second half, but the Sounders were deserving winners as they beat LAFC 3-0 on Friday night. The Sounders moved into first place in the Western Conference, a point clear of SKC with the result, and they seem to have put the bogey man of LAFC behind them as they’ve now stacked three big wins over them in their last four meetings in all competitions. Nico Lodeiro is now perfect in 14 regular season PK attempts in MLS with his two tonight, and Raúl Ruidíaz moved into a tie for second in the Golden Boot race with 8 after his goal tonight.

82’ — Raúl Ruidiaz adds to the Sounders’ lead after some lovely work by the midfield and some magical control by the striker before powering his shot into the back of the net.

76’ — Eduard Atuesta spent a lot of time on the ground after Frei caressed the side of his head, and the ref eventually had to stop things so he could get some attention.

57’ — Plenty of shouts for a penalty as this ball clearly makes contact with Gomez Andrade’s arm, but no call comes.

HALFTIME — Two Nico Lodeiro penalties are currently the difference through a pretty sloppy first 45 minutes. The Sounders are winning the physical battles, but that’s only encouraging more physicality - and with it later challenges and chippier play - from Bob Bradley’s side.

33’ — Lodeiro finishes his second PK in five minutes after Latif Blessing tries to put a block into Gomez Andrade’s back.

29’ — Nico Lodeiro puts the Sounders in the lead, beating Sisniega on the penalty after VAR helps determine that Jakovic committed a handball in the area.

14’ — It appeared as though LAFC had taken the lead, but Bradley Wright-Phillips was in an offside position before putting away the rebound.

LINEUPS: Brian Schmetzer is rolling out the same Starting XI for the Seattle Sounders that he used against the San Jose Earthquakes last week. The Arreaga-Gomez Andrade and João Paulo-Roldan pairings will face a tougher test this time around. There’s a special treat on the bench, as both Stefan Cleveland and Trey Muse are in the match day squad.

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It feels like it was just about 19 days ago that the Seattle Sounders last played LAFC. Well, it was just that, and tonight we get to face off against Bob Bradley and the other team from Los Angeles. LAFC will be without star forward Carlos Vela for the third straight meeting against the Sounders, with both teams splitting the previous two matches. The Sounders are fully fit but will be without new (well, old?) signing Brad Smith because of a mandatory quarantine period.

The last match between these two sides ended 3-1 with the Sounders scoring two goals within a minute. So shall it be that way tonight.

Absences: Injury, international duty and suspension

Seattle:

OUT: Danny Leyva (M) - left foot fracture

QUESTIONABLE: Jordy Delem (M) - right hamstring strain

LAFC:

OUT: Carlos Vela (F) - Grade 2 MLS sprain

OUT: Mohamed Traore (D) - undisclosed injury

OUT: Tristan Blackmon (D) - undisclosed injury

Officials:

Referee: Joseph Dickerson

Assistant Referees: Cameron Blanchard, Mike Rottersman

4th Official: Brad Jensen

VAR: Timothy Ford

How to Watch

Match date/time: September 18th at 7:00pm

Venue: CenturyLink Field, Seattle, WA

Online Streaming: Amazon Prime (affiliate link, in-market), ESPN+ (affiliate link, out of market), Fubo TV (affiliate link)

Local English TV: JOEtv (Costigan, Keller, Zakuani)

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

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

Local Spanish TV: KUNS-TV Univision-Seattle

Lineups

Highlights will be posted as the match progresses.

This is Seattle Sounders vs LAFC; watch with us.

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