Ballin' on the Bayou: Sounders top Dynamo

The Seattle Sounders made it five games unbeaten with a 3-1 win when they traveled to face the Houston Dynamo at Shell Energy Stadium on Saturday evening. With a little better luck or sharper finishing this could have easily been 4- or 5-1, but in the end a brace from Albert Rusnák and another goal from Danny Musovski were enough to overcome a Dynamo side that was down to 10 men after goalscorer Obafemi Awodesu was sent off late in the first half.

Houston had the better chances in the opening minutes of the game, posing a serious threat with looks in the 5th and 7th minutes coming from Jack McGlynn, but a save from Stef Frei and a clearance in traffic from Nouhou kept them off the scoreboard. Seattle truly got out of their own end for the first time in the 12th minute when Obed Vargas found Ryan Kent making a run with a nice little chipped ball over the top, and Kent was able to open up space for a cross to Alex Roldan at the back post but Roldan’s attempted volley sliced wide of goal.

From there the Sounders looked to have found their footing and a 22nd minute opening goal for Danny Musovski was presaged just a few minutes earlier in the 16th minute when Cristian Roldan hit a gorgeous diagonal ball to Paul Rothrock on the right wing. Rothrock put in a cross on that play, but it was headed away by a defender and out for a corner. On the goal Roldan once again hit a diagonal ball to Rothrock on the wing, but this time Rothrock’s cross in took a deflection that sent it looping over the defenders to where Musovski was able to meet it all alone and head it in beyond the reach of goalkeeper Jonathan Bond.

Ten minutes later, Houston found a goal of their own, somewhat unsurprisingly from a set piece served in by Jack McGlynn. McGlynn whipped in a great free kick from about 20 yards out that Obafemi Awodesu jumped up to head home at the back post. Frei attempted to get in front of the shot, but despite getting an arm to the ball he couldn’t keep it out of the net and just like that the game was tied 1-1.

Things took a turn for the worse shortly after the goal for Houston, though. In the 38th minute Awodesu was fighting to defend Musovski as they both ran towards goal with a ball played over the top and Awodesu handled the ball while trying to head it away. Referee Victor Rivas was quick to blow his whistle, point to the spot and show the defender a red card. After review it was determined that the handball occurred outside of the area, but the red card for denial of a goalscoring opportunity remained. For the remainder of the game the Dynamo were forced to play down a man.

At halftime the Sounders swapped Pedro de la Vega for Paul Rothrock on the right wing, and immediately de la Vega made an impact. Less than a minute after kicking off he received a slick little flick through the defense from Alex Roldan as he ran into the box, and hit a pass to the penalty spot where Albert Rusnák ran onto it and smashed it home to retake the lead in the 46th minute. Rusnák wasn’t done scoring there, though. In the 58th minute Ryan Kent showed another flash of what he’s capable as he wove his way through the Houston defense on his way into the area before hitting a cutback to the edge of the six-yard box where he had both de la Vega and Rusnák arriving. Rusnák was the one to get a shot off, and he left no doubt as he put his shot away to make it 3-1.

Frei had to come up with a pair of quality saves and Seattle had a few chances of their own to add to the goal total, but the score would stay 3-1. The win marks the Sounders’ second road win of the season, both of which have come in Texas after their 1-0 win against FC Dallas a month ago. Seattle now sit on 19 points through 12 games as they continue their three-game week on the road with a trip to face LAFC up next on Wednesday, May 14.

Key moments

5 - Save! Cristian Roldan gets his pocket picked and Houston drive at goal, but McGlynn’s shot from the top of the box is handled easily enough by Frei.

7 - Clearance! McGlynn sends in a free kick that falls dangerously for Dorsey, but Nouhou acrobatically clears the ball before anything comes of it.

12 - Chance! Seattle’s first real foray forward comes from a great ball over the top by Vargas for Kent who creates space on the dribble to send in a cross, but Alex Roldan can’t make the contact he needs on his first-time shot and it’s sliced wide.

16 - Corner! Cristian Roldan hits a beautiful diagonal ball from the back line to Rothrock on the right wing. Rothrock sends in a cross that bounces in the box and is headed away for a corner.

22 - GOAL! Danny Musovski makes it five straight! Another gorgeous pass from deep from Cristian to Rothrock, and Rothrock sends in a cross that finds Musovski all alone infant of goal to head it home! 1-0 Sounders

32 - Goal, Houston. Awodesu rises up over Alex Roldan at the back post to head home a McGlynn free kick to level the score. 1-1

35 - Corner! Bassi fires a shot from the top of the box that looks destined for the goal, but Musovski gets a touch on it to put it out for a corner.

38 - Red card! Awodesu is judged to have handled the ball while battling with Musovski in the box, earning him a red and the Sounders a penalty. After review the handball is determined to have happened outside the area, but the red still stands.

45 - Chance! Rusnák and Cristian Roldan attempt a tricky little free kick, but the ensuing shot is blocked by the wall and ends up going out for a goal kick.

HT - Subs. Seattle bring in Pedro de la Vega for Paul Rothrock, and Houston swap Pablo Ortiz in for Amine Bassi.

46 - GOAL! De la Vega gets a slick little pass from Alex Roldan to play him behind the defense. De la Vega then picks out Rusnák running into the box for a first-time finish to retake the lead! 2-1 Sounders

52 - Chance! Houston put together a little possession and McGlynn pops up with a shot from outside the area that goes just wide of Frei’s goal.

55 - Sub. Yeimar comes off for the Sounders, replaced by Jon Bell.

58 - GOAL! Kent makes a slaloming run through the box and a cutback towards the top of the six-yard box with PdlV and Rusnák running onto it and Rusnák takes the first-time shot to double the lead and pick up a brace! 3-1 Sounders

60 - SAVE! Kent gives away a free kick on Seattle’s right wing. McGlynn sends in a cross and Dorsey gets a header that looks like it’ll sneak in at the far post, but Frei makes a great save to push it away and out for a corner.

64 - Shot! Some clever passing and moving around Houston’s area sets up a blazed shot from Cristian Roldan that is blocked out for a corner.

65 - Subs. Houston make two changes, replacing Artur and Ethan Bartlow with Felipe Andrade and Junior Urso.

66 - Subs. Seattle bring on Jesus Ferreira and Georgi Minoungou and take off Ryan Kent and Albert Rusnák.

71 - Sub. Houston take off Ezequiel Ponce and bring in Sebastian Kowalczyk

73 - Chance! Ferreira plays a fantastic through ball for Minoungou who skips over a tackle from Dorsey to send a ball across goal, but it’s cleared away by a defender.

79 - Sub. Osaze De Rosario enters the game as Danny Musovski subs off.

80 - Sub. Toyosi Olusanya enters the game for Houston with Ondrej Lingr making way.

85 - Save! De Rosario gives up a dangerous free kick and McGlynn goes for goal, but Frei dives to his left and is able to catch and hold onto the ball.

87 - Chance! Minoungou rag dolls Dorsey as he cruises into the box and smashes a low shot that Bond is just able to block out for a corner.

Quick thoughts

Goals are good: It’s objectively good to score goals. It’s the rarest, hardest thing to do in the game, and lately the Sounders have been doing it a LOT. Musovski entered rarified air when he scored in this game, his fifth-straight game with a goal which makes him one of only four Sounders players to ever accomplish that feat. During that five-game stretch the Sounders are undefeated having gone 4-0-1, and they’ve outscored their opponents 12-3. They had only scored eight goals in the seven games before this run. Seattle are getting goals from a variety of places – they have nine goalscorers so far this season and 11 players with assists – and they aren’t really showing any signs of slowing down as players continue to get sharper and competition for minutes picks up.

Just try: Jackson Ragen’s absence has left the Sounders without a high-quality distributor on the back line. It’s simply not Yeimar or Kim Kee-hee’s game, but it’s a pretty important part of how Seattle want to play. To address this lack the team has in part shifted to their 4-2-3-1 with Cristian Roldan dropping back in possession to help move the ball and he was really good at that in this game, but in the last couple of games we’ve also seen those two starting CBs seemingly be given the instruction to just try hitting the kinds of line-breaking passes that make Ragen so valuable to the team. It doesn’t always work out, but knowing that their teammates will work their asses off to win the ball back has allowed for a little more freedom to attempt those passes when they see them. They had a bit more space in this one after the red card, but just having those guys try to find players between the lines has opened up a lot of space and attacking options.

Building momentum: After a difficult start to the season with Seattle going 1-3-3, -3 through their first seven games, the Sounders now haven’t lost in five and have swung that goal difference to a +6 as they’ve started picking up goals along with results. They’re still missing pieces due to injury and working on integrating some new players, but the Sounders look like they’re rounding into form at just the right time. It’s entirely likely that their current unbeaten run won’t last through this road trip that sees them face LAFC and the Portland Timbers after tonight’s game, all in the span of a week, as they’ve struggled against both sides in the past. But Seattle are hot right now, have won both of their last two meetings with LAFC and picked up road wins against both sides at some point last season. Continuing to pick up points next week will help the Sounders to keep climbing the table, put some demons to rest, and this team looks more than capable of doing just that. Strike while the iron is hot.

Notable quote

Player spotlight

Cristian Roldan – Cristian Roldan led the game in completed passes (71/75), fouls suffered (5), and duels won (10/16). He also won 2/2 tackles and was absolutely dealing from central midfield completing 10/11 long balls.