The Seattle Sounders continued their historic domination of the Colorado Rapids at home, securing a 4-0 win in the 2023 regular-season opener at Lumen Field on Sunday. It was the Sounders’ 16 wins in 19 matches against the Rapids at Lumen, the most lopsided fixture in MLS history among matches with at least 10 instances.
Jordan Morris scored a brace and was supported by goals from Cristian Roldan and new signing Héber. All four goals were unassisted, the first time that’s happened in Sounders history.
The Sounders’ 4.32 Expected Goals was also their highest single-game total since 2020.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 4 – Colorado Rapids 0
Sunday, February 26, 2023
Venue: Emerald Queen Casino Pitch at Lumen Field
Referee: Alex Chilowicz
Assistants: Ian Anderson, Chris Elliott
Fourth Official: Fotis Bazakos
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
Attendance: 30,032
Weather: 40 degrees and clear
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Cristian Roldan 25’
SEA – Jordan Morris 45’
SEA – Héber 53’
SEA – Jordan Morris 83’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
COL – Kévin Cabral (caution) 87’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Alex Roldan, Yeimar, Jackson Ragen, Nouhou; João Paulo (Josh Atencio 80’), Albert Rusnák (Danny Leyva 85’), Cristian Roldan (Léo Chú 71’), Nico Lodeiro – captain, Jordan Morris (Dylan Teves 85’); Héber (Fredy Montero 71’)
Substitutes not used: Stefan Cleveland, Xavier Arreaga, Abdoulaye Cissoko, Reed Baker-Whiting, Kelyn Rowe
Total shots: 15
Shots on goal: 9
Fouls: 9
Offside: 3
Corner-kicks: 6
Saves: 2
Colorado Rapids – William Yarbrough; Keegan Rosenberry (Danny Wilson 71’), Andreas Maxsø, Lalas Abubakar, Alex Gersbach; Connor Ronan, Cole Bassett, Sam Nicholson (Braian Galván 83’), Ralph Priso (Max 80’); Michael Barrios (Kévin Cabral 71’), Darren Yapi
Substitutes not used: Jack Price, Bryan Acosta, Abraham Rodriguez, Steven Beitashour, Moise Bombito
Total shots: 10
Shots on goal: 2
Fouls: 15
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 5
Saves: 4
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POST-MATCH QUOTES & SOUNDBYTES: SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC 4 – COLORADO RAPIDS 0
SOUNDERS FC HEAD COACH BRIAN SCHMETZER
On Jordan Morris’s performance tonight:
“Other than he is tremendous player, nice young man, born and raised here, lots of good storylines there. Happy, happy with that performance. Obviously, the goal right before halftime with talked about timely goals. But in the second half, when we brought [Léo] Chú on, who was very good by the way, Jordan was over on the right and so that’s something that we kicked around as staff and so, that looked pretty good. So, you know, as far as Jordan’s concern, he’s got a big smile except Preki tried to tell him that his last goal was an own goal. But we cleared that out. Clearly Jordan has both goals.”
SOUNDERS FC FORWARD JORDAN MORRIS
On getting the season off on the right foot:
“Yeah, it feels great. For the group, the mentality going into this year, I’m sure it’s been spoken about but we haven’t really made Lumen a fortress like before. I think during our championship years and our runs we’d make this place a place no one wanted to come play. We needed to get back to that this year and Stef [Frei] echoed that in the huddle right before the game, that this was important to get off on the right foot at home. It was great to be back out in front of the fans putting in a performance like that feels really good.”
SOUNDERS FC MIDFIELDER JOÃO PAULO (VIA TRANSLATOR)
On the goals the team scored:
“Yeah, we did a good job in buildup plays and finishing. [We were ready because of] the staff and the training and tactics.”
On how the team worked together:
“Finishing the plays. Sometimes we are creating chances but not finishing them. So tonight, to finish them, that was very important.”
SOUNDERS FC FORWARD HÉBER (VIA TRANSLATOR)
On how important it was to win tonight:
“Yeah, it was amazing, it was a very good win for us, 4-0, it gives a lot of confidence to the team and it’s easy to play with them because there is a lot of quality. I hope the rest of the season is like that, always goals and three points here.”
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