The Seattle Sounders put the final touches on a grueling stretch of 7 games in 23 days by dispatching the third-place Colorado Rapids 3-0 on Sunday at Lumen Field. João Paulo scored a serious Goal of the Year candidate and assisted on a Jimmy Medranda goal, while Cristian Roldan also picked up a goal and an assist.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 3 – Colorado Rapids 0
Sunday, October 3, 2021
Venue: Lumen Field
Referee: Chris Penso
Assistants: Ian Anderson, Ryan Graves
Fourth Official: Joseph Dickerson
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
Attendance: 31,425
Weather: 67 degrees and clear
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Cristian Roldan (Will Bruin) 2’
SEA – Jimmy Medranda (João Paulo, Cristian Roldan) 22’
SEA – João Paulo (Cristian Roldan) 45’+1’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
COL – Danny Wilson (caution) 24’
COL – Michael Barrios (caution) 48’
COL – Diego Rubio (caution) 54’
COL – Lucas Esteves (ejection) 61’
COL – Younes Namli (caution) 77’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Yeimar, Xavier Arreaga (Abdoulaye Cissoko 78’), Nouhou, Jimmy Medranda (Shane O’Neill 69’), Alex Roldan; Cristian Roldan (Danny Leyva 73’), Josh Atencio, João Paulo (Kelyn Rowe 69’), Fredy Montero (Léo Chú 72’); Will Bruin
Substitutes not used: Stefan Cleveland, Spencer Richey, Reed Baker-Whiting, Ethan Dobbelaere
Total shots: 10
Shots on goal: 6
Fouls: 8
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 1
Saves: 4
Colorado Rapids – Clint Irwin; Keegan Rosenberry (Cole Bassett 80’), Danny Wilson (Lucas Esteves HT), Auston Trusty, Lalas Abubakar; Michael Barrios (Younes Namli 73’), Mark-Anthony Kaye, Jack Price, Kellyn Acosta; Andrew Shinyashiki (Diego Rubio HT), Braian Galvan (Nicolas Mezquida 73’)
Substitutes not used: Drew Moor, Dominique Badji, Abraham Rodriguez, Steven Beitashour
Total shots: 10
Shots on goal: 5
Fouls: 17
Offside: 2
Corner-kicks: 8
Saves: 3
g+ GameFlow: MLS Regular Season @SoundersFC v @ColoradoRapids on October 03, 2021. #Sounders #VamosSounders #Rapids96 #SEAvCOL pic.twitter.com/VfDEmmJ4aD
— GameFlow (@GameFlowxPG) October 4, 2021
POST-MATCH QUOTES: SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC 3 – COLORADO RAPIDS 0
SOUNDERS FC HEAD COACH BRIAN SCHMETZER
On letting up a bit in the second half:
“No. I’ll accept responsibility for what you guys may have seen as dysfunctional or not killer instinct, whatever you guys want to call it. I’ll take responsibility for that, when you have to make multiple subs sometimes it upsets the rhythm. I could have kept guys out there after the red card. Maybe the scoreline goes up… four, five, six. You know, whatever. But I’m trying to get guys off the field, trying to save some legs. Trying to get some guys some minutes. So, I don’t think it was anything to do with the players, I think it’s my decision to make changes, and then [Xavier Arreaga’s] unfortunate cramping. You know it was [his] thigh, he had a little problem last game, we had to take him off. That was an unplanned sub, because maybe Nouhou needed to come out, the whole second half was a little dysfunctional after the red card. But that’s more on me than the players, I think the players were fine. Again, I was happy I was able to give Léo [Chú] a few minutes. I mean look, he’s still raw but I liked what I saw. Danny [Leyva] came on and did fine. Shane [O’Neill] is a veteran guy. Kelyn [Rowe] is a veteran guy, so those changes were fine. AB [Cissoko] getting a few minutes is ok, because how do we line up against Vancouver? So, yeah, ok. You guys are all hungry or the fans are hungry for another goal after the red card. But, look, when you make that many changes, it’s hard to keep any sort of rhythm.”
On the fans giving a standing ovation at halftime:
“I thought the first half was good. You asked me the other day if I thought our last game we played was our most complete performance. I would say that that half was pretty darn close because think about the goals, the way those started. Starting off a game at home, because our home record, again, you guys have written that it’s not great, but we started off on the right foot. But the goal came from Jimmy Medranda’s pressure higher up the field and then Will [Bruin] and then Cristian [Roldan], I mean that’s how you want to start games. And then the second goal, okay, we get another well-deserved goal. Jimmy smashes the ball in, again, I think it was [João Paulo’s] subtle touch to get it to Jimmy. And the whole build-up sequence. Will’s contributions to the game, I would love to talk about Will. And then you get [João Paulo’s] final act of that first half. If the fans gave us a standing ovation, well they appreciate good soccer and they are a very smart audience. Because that was a pretty darn good half of soccer.”
SOUNDERS FC MIDFIELDER CRISTIAN ROLDAN
On seeing João Paulo’s goal:
“[I thought it was a] great pass, first and foremost, it was incredible. But in all seriousness, I joke around with João, because he uses his body so well. He’s faster than he looks. With the way he uses his body, it’s really difficult to get the ball off him. I expected, honestly, all of that but to have the composure to cut to his left and to score the goal, that just shows how much talent he has. But João is a spectacular player, he has great form and he does so many things right that it’s hard to put into words what you just saw. The first goal of the season was just as incredible. So, credit to him.”
On scoring in four straight games:
“I think it’s been a combination of a lot of things. I think mentally I told myself, hey, shoot. Be more aggressive when you’re in front of goal. Be more selfish, that’s something that I haven’t done as of late, being a defensive midfielder basically my whole career. My mindset was a little bit different. Just being a little bit more aggressive, more confident and selfish in front of goal. And secondly, I think we’ve been getting a lot of good service from the left side. And I think that’s something that we lacked a little bit in the first half of the season. A lot of the service came from the right side and now we have that balance and I think that’s making us an even more dangerous team.”
SOUNDERS FC MIDFIELDER JOÃO PAULO (THROUGH TRANSLATOR)
On his goal:
“In reality, I was continuing that run, feeling that I didn’t have the pressure, so I kept going, maybe because the other players know me, and that [I’m] type of player that [passes]. And probably thought it was unlikely for me to go that way. But I kept going, kept progressing, got near the box and completed the play. So, if it wasn’t my most beautiful goal, it was certainly one of the most beautiful ones.”
On his overall impressions of the game:
“I believe that we imposed our rhythm from the start and that forced some turnovers in zones of the field where we managed to create opportunities on goal. And after scoring the first couple of goals, that made things a little bit easier, easier to conduct the match. In the second half we did make some mistakes, maybe relaxed given the score, the big gap in the score. But those can’t happen, especially playing against a quality team like this, but those are all lessons that we learned and bring to the next matches.