Home sweet home: Sounders smash St. Louis

The Seattle Sounders picked up another home win at Lumen Field, demolishing St. Louis City FC 4-1 on Saturday night. After first half penalties for both sides, the Sounders buried their visitors in the second half with goals in the 61st, 81st and 90+1st minutes from Obed Vargas, Danny Musovski and Nouhou.

Things took a little while to get going in the first half. Seattle had an early chance in the 6th minute when Paul Rothrock found Albert Rusnák with a slip pass in the area, but Rusnák’s shot took the slightest touch from the foot of goalkeeper Benjamin Lundt to keep him from being nutmegged for an early goal.

Despite the early look for Seattle, it was St. Louis that ended up opening the scoring after Yeimar was called for a foul in the box on Cedric Teuchert along the end line in the 26th minute. Replays seemed to show Yeimar pushing Teuchert a little but not making contact to bring him down as he got a touch to the ball, but the penalty call stood. Marcel Hartel took the penalty, sending Stefan Frei the wrong way with a hop in his run-up and sending a little dribbler into goal to make it 1-0 St. Louis in the 29th minute.

It didn’t take long for the Sounders to find a response, as Obed Vargas played a ball through the middle into the feet of Rusnák who got Seattle out on the run against a scrambling defense. Rusnák fed Paul Rothrock with a nice through ball, and Rothrock looked to have lost the moment as his touch took him wide going into the box but he was able to cut back through a crowd of players and was brought down by Timo Baumgartl in the 32nd minute. Rusnák stepped up and took the penalty, hitting a hard, low shot down the middle to make it 1-1 in the 33rd minute.

Seattle were clearly energized by the goal and started piling on the pressure for another goal over the remainder of the second half. Following Rusnák’s goal, Seattle outshot St. Louis 8-1, with their visitors’ last shot of the half coming in the 37th minute.

Although the Sounders went into halftime tied, it didn’t take too long for the second half to produce. Only minutes after entering the game to take over for Rothrock in the 57th minute, Ryan Kent got involved in proceedings. Kent provided a pivot for Vargas at the edge of the area to play a quick 1-2 before Vargas got off a shot that took a tough deflection that sent it into the back of the net completely befuddling Lundt to give the Sounders a 2-1 lead in the 61st minute.

The Sounders looked like they’d possibly drawn a second penalty in the 71st when there was a pretty obvious handball as Joakim Nilsson clearly blocked a Vargas shot with his outstretched arm, but referee Lorenzo Hernandez claimed the ball first hit Nilsson's leg and that his arm was in a "justifiable position."

Undeterred, Danny Musovski made it 3-1 in the 81st minute. Musovski got involved in the build-up of the goal, providing some solid holdup play helping to move the ball from Rusnák to Vargas before continuing his run into the box, where Nouhou found him with his back to goal with a cross to the edge of the 6-yard box. Musovski got a touch to control the ball, then turned and hit his shot that Lundt got a touch to but couldn’t keep out of the net. It was Musovski's fourth consecutive game with a goal.

Seattle clearly knew there were more goals to be had in this game and continued to push for another. Osaze De Rosario, who entered the game in place of Musovski following his goal, had a golden opportunity after a layoff from Cristian Roldan, but couldn’t keep his shot down as he put his 90th minute chance over the bar. A minute later Seattle played a short corner that allowed Kent to work his way from the flag around the corner of the box and towards the end line with a series of give-and-goes and a little deek before cutting the ball back for a first-time finish into the top corner from Nouhou in the 91st minute.

This win bumped the Sounders up to 7th in the West with 16 points from 11 games, riding a four-game unbeaten run and 3-0-2 record at home to start the season. Seattle will hit the road to face Houston Dynamo next Saturday. Before then, Tacoma Defiance host the Portland Timbers at Starfire in the U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 on Tuesday.

Key moments

6 - Shot! Rothrock plays a slide pass to put Rusnák in behind. Rusnák hits a shot that nearly nutmegs Lundt, but he gets enough of a touch to deflect the shot and the ball is headed behind for a corner.

22 - Shot! Rusnák lays the ball off for Musovski with a clever first touch, but Musovski’s first-time effort goes out for a goal kick.

26 - Penalty! Yeimar is judged to have fouled Teuchert on the end line inside the area. On replay he appears to have gotten the ball without clipping the player, but the call stands without referee Lorenzo Hernandez being sent to the monitor.

29 - Goal. Hartel takes the penalty, sends Frei the wrong way and his shot trickles in to give the visitors the lead. 1-0 St. Louis

32 - Penalty! Rothrock dribbles around a crowd of players in the St. Louis box and is tripped and pushed by Baumgartl to win a penalty for the Sounders!

33 - GOAL! Rusnák takes the penalty for Seattle and smashes it low and down the middle to equalize! 1-1

38 - Corner! Rusnák sends in a dangerous cross that Baumgartl nearly puts into his own net as he tries to clear it, but the ball goes out off the post for a corner.

40 - Shot! De la Vega sends in a curling cross that Rusnák allows to bounce to Rothrock who tries a first-time shot on a ball that doesn’t quite settle and it’s out for a goal kick.

44 - Chance! Rusnák hits a gorgeous through ball for Rothrock, who finds Musovski in the box but the ball gets caught under his feet and the danger is cleared.

45 - Header! Nouhou floats in a cross from the left that Musovski rises up to get his head on, but the effort goes just over the bar from close range.

45+6 - Shot! A corner gets recycled out to Rusnák and he sends in another cross that Kim Kee-hee is able to get a pretty free header on but his shot goes high.

54 - Chance! De la Vega receives the ball as he enters the box, but his touch is a little too big and he loses the ball. The loose ball falls to Vargas who takes a shot that scoots wide of goal.

57 - Sub. Paul Rothrock’s night is done as Ryan Kent comes on to replace him for the Sounders.

57 - Shot! Teuchert blasts a shot from outside of the box, but it’s hit right at Frei and he’s able to easily deal with it.

60 - Sub. St. Louis make their first sub as Tomas Ostrak leaves the game with an injury and Mykhi Joyner comes on for him.

61 - GOAL! Vargas plays a give-and-go with Kent and drives into the box and hits a shot that takes a deflection to pop it over the sprawling Lundt. 2-1 Sounders

64 - Chance! De la Vega takes a rip from the top of the box that goes just over the bar.

68 - Shot! Alex Roldan has a loose ball fall to him and he lines up a hammered shot from the top of the box, but he can’t quite keep it down.

69 - Subs. St. Louis make a triple change, taking off Joao Klauss, Cedric Teuchert and Joshua Yaro and bringing on Simon Becher, Eduard Lowen and Joakim Nilsson.

74 - Nonsense. After a lengthy review for a pretty obvious handball in the area, it is determined that no such offense occurred and play resumes.

75 - Subs. St. Louis make another change, bringing on Xande Silva for Kyle Hiebert, while the Sounders swap Georgi Minoungou for Pedro de la Vega.

79 - Shot! Vargas finds a good run from Musovski with a quality through ball, but Musovski’s shot is blocked out by the GK for a corner.

81 - GOAL! Musovski with a fantastic touch, turn and shot after receiving a good cross from Nouhou to make it 3 for the Sounders! 3-1 Sounders

83 - Subs. Danny Musovski and Yeimar make way for Osaze De Rosario and Jon Bell for the Sounders.

90 - Chance! De Rosario has his first chance of the night on a clear look after Cristian Roldan puts a bouncing ball on a platter with only the ‘keeper to beat, but he puts the shot over the bar.

90+1 - GOAL! Nouhou adds a goal to his assist, smashing in a Kent pass from inside the area! 4-1 Sounders

90+7 - POST! Vargas nearly puts the cherry on top but his shot clangs off the far post. Minoungou gets to the rebound and smashes a shot, but it's saved.

Quick thoughts

Ryan Kent, folks: Look, he’s really good. There’s very clearly a good reason that Ryan Kent was productive at Rangers, and Fenerbahçe brought him in: he’s good at playing soccer. And he’s not just good at playing soccer – “football” I’m sure he’d say – he’s good in a way that is: 1) really fun to watch, 2) includes other players, and 3) turns directly and indirectly into goals for your team. The guy is electric, showing off skill to beat players as well as a willingness to work for and with the guys around him in order to move the ball and the team into more dangerous positions. He showed it on both of his assists, providing a willing participant on either end of a pass-and-move. He won 3 of 7 duels in his 33-minute appearance, won both tackles he attempted, went 1 for 1 on both attempted dribbles and long balls, completed 26/26 passes and created 3 chances. And it very much feels like we’ll only see more as he picks up more minutes.

Obed Vargas’ attacking evolution: Obed Vargas has been doing, well, just about everything well for a while now. The missing piece has been a more substantial attacking threat. He seemed to take a step forward last season with a goal and 7 assists in MLS (including secondary assists), and with his goal tonight it seems like he’s continued to build on the success of last season. He’s said already that he and Cristian Roldan are looking to add more goal scoring, particularly with mid-range shots, from the midfield, and he’s consistently been a threat from around the edge of the box along with threatening runs into the area. Vargas now has 1 goal and 2 assists in MLS so far in 2025. Beyond his goal Vargas also won 7/11 duels, 2/2 tackles, had 4 interceptions and 4 recoveries, and completed 54 of 63 passes while also putting a late shot off the post. The price of Obed Vargas just keeps going up.

The Fortress of Light: Lumen Field has become not only a difficult place to play for opposing teams, but a genuine source of joy for players and fans alike when the Sounders step onto the field. The team has turned their home stadium into a fortress as they’re now undefeated in five games at Lumen to start the season, racking up 3 wins and 2 draws while outscoring opponents 14-5. That’s really good, and putting aside the particularly dour 0-0 draw against the Houston Dynamo, the games have been entertaining and full of goals for us to enjoy and celebrate. You’d love to see the team lock down their defense a little more - as much as I don’t think the penalty on Yeimar was a penalty, that’s also the kind of penalty he’s been dying to give away - it’s not so bad when they’re scoring goals so freely at home.

Notable quote

Player spotlight

Danny Musovski – Moose scored for his fourth consecutive game, joining Obafemi Martins, Fredy Montero and Jordan Morris as the only Sounders players to do that in MLS. As Opta Joe would say (presumably): M Names.