To live and die in LA: Sounders fall to SoCal

The five-game unbeaten run came to an abrupt end for the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday night with their 4-0 loss to LAFC. Goals from Cengiz Ünder in the 26th minute, Jeremy Ebobisse in the 51st, Denis Bouanga in the 81st, and Yaw Yeboah in the 86th to round it out proved much more than a heavily rotated Sounders side could handle.

The first half was relatively close as Seattle had a few chances around LAFC’s opener. Things started rough as the Sounders backline tried a couple of times to give away a goal, but Danny Leyva provided a couple of set pieces that created chances in the 14th minute and the 29th minute, and Osaze De Rosario tried Hugo Lloris from range after receiving a pass from João Paulo in the 23rd minute. None of those chances turned into goals, and Cengiz Ünder made sure that he left no doubt when he smashed a recycled corner into the back of the net to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute.

LAFC got out to a quick start in the second half. Jeremy Ebobisse made it 2-0 in the 51st minute after Jonathan Bell failed to deal with a pretty simple ball over the top, Ebobisse got on the ball and beat Bell in the box one more time before finishing to the far post.

Seattle started making changes, bringing in Danny Musovski and Albert Rusnák to replace Osaze De Rosario and Jesus Ferreira in the 57th minute, and swapping Ryan Kent for Pedro De La Vega in the 71st, but were unable to create much real danger. The Sounders only took 3 shots after those subs started happening, although those were the team’s only shots of the half.

Denis Bouanga got his goal in the 80th minute. Bouanga received a pass on the left from Nathan Ordaz and ran at Kim Kee-hee who put a tackle in, but the ball deflected off of Bouanga’s shin and into his path for a close-range finish to make it 3-0. Defender Yaw Yeboah finished things off in the 86th minute as LAFC were playing all down-hill on a beaten Sounders side. Yeboah received a layoff from Olivier Giroud inside the area, cut the ball back to send Stuart Hawkins sliding past him and buried his shot to put the nail in the coffin and make it 4-0.

The loss ends Seattle’s five-game unbeaten streak. A heavily rotated side struggled to find any sort of footing against an LAFC team that is starting to find their form. The Sounders now go into a trip to face the Portland Timbers on Saturday needing to bounce back and show that the team that showed up against the Houston Dynamo and St. Louis City is the real Sounders.

Key moments

3 - Save! Thomas makes a big save to deny Tillman, then gets a touch on Palencia's shot from the rebound and is able to collect the loose ball in the area.

14 - Chance! Leyva stands over a free kick drawn by Rothrock and his effort takes a deflection as it comes through that sends it just wide of Lloris’s far post for a corner.

23 - Shot! De Rosario gets the ball from João Paulo and elects to test Lloris from distance, but his hard-hit shot is caught by the ‘keeper.

26 - Goal, LAFC. Ünder hits a shot from outside the area off of a recycled corner that comes through a crowd and fools Thomas as he leans the wrong way. 1-0 LAFC

29 - Chance! Leyva sends in a corner that de la Vega does well to get a strong header on, but it hits the post and the play ends with a foul by Seattle.

35 - Save! Amaya hits a shot from near the penalty spot after LAFC play their way around and through the Seattle defense, but Thomas catches the shot easily.

39 - Chance! De Rosario makes good contact on a corner from Leyva, but his header is blocked and saved by Lloris.

43 - Save! Thomas has to punch away a dangerous ball into the Seattle area, but the danger is cleared.

HT - Sub. Seattle swap Kim Kee-hee in for Yeimar to start the second half.

51 - Goal, LAFC. Bell fails to deal with a ball as LAFC break and Ebobisse gets control, beats Bell and finishes to Thomas’s far post. 2-0 LAFC

54 - Clearance! Bouanga avoids a challenge from Bell and gets a shot off that beats Thomas but Kossa-Rienzi clears it off the line and Kim Kee-hee puts it out for a corner.

57 - Subs. Jesus Ferreira and Osaze De Rosario leave the game and are replaced by Danny Musovski and Albert Rusnák.

65 - Shot! Musovski sets de la Vega up for a shot from the top of the box. De la Vega takes a touch to open up space and hits a curling shot that Lloris dives to save.

71 - Sub. Ryan Kent enters the game for Pedro de la Vega.

77 - Offside! Martinez appeared to have added a third LAFC goal, but Ordaz is ruled to have been offside at the start of the play.

80 - Goal, LAFC. Bouanga receives a pass from Martinez and drives into the box. Kim puts in a tackle and gets the ball, but it comes back off Bouanga’s shin and he snaps a shot that beats Thomas. 3-0 LAFC

83 - Save! Thomas dives out to paw away a ball that flies just beyond the reach of Delgado.

86 - Goal, LAFC. Yeboah receives a cutback from Giroud, chops the ball back to send Hawkins sliding, and finishes far post to beat Thomas. 4-0 LAFC

Quick thoughts

Horses for courses: I would argue that the four-man depth the Sounders have at their midfield double-pivot is one of, if not the strongest in the league. Cristian Roldan and Obed Vargas are fantastic and have been a key part of the team’s strong recent performances. Having Danny Leyva and JP to back them up is awesome! They work well as pairings, and when needed both guys can slot in alongside either of the starters given the right circumstances. One of the major differences between the Roldan-Vargas pairing and the Leyva-JP pairing is that both Roldan and Vargas are able to cover huge chunks of ground and open a lot of opportunities with their athleticism. Leyva and JP aren’t as fast or athletic as their fellow midfielders, but in a game where the Sounders will have more possession than they did tonight (39%) that’s not a huge problem. When the Sounders don’t have the ball that much, they’re likely to get overrun. They didn’t have a great game, but this also was very plainly not a great game for them.

The gamble you make: This game and this result put a very clear focus on this weekend’s meeting with the Timbers. LAFC being a midweek game before a Cascadia match at the weekend meant that the Sounders were always going to rotate for this one, although not even having Cristian Roldan in the game day squad may have been more than some would have expected. The obvious driver is that the team is focused on getting a win in Portland. A six-point week on the road is a pretty good week, and LAFC is a tough team to visit. But getting rocked in the second half hurts, and now it feels that much more important that they get the job done in a few days.

Leave it behind: The game was bad. The Sounders didn’t play well. It was frustrating to watch. The team can certainly learn things from it, but with so little time before they’re back on the field they need to just leave it behind them for now. With the Houston, St. Louis and Nashville SC games all in the last month, there’s lots of evidence that when this Seattle squad is put in position to win a game and put on a show they know how to do it. They’ve done it, and they can do it again. What better place to do it than in your rival’s own home?

Notable quote

Player spotlight

Stuart Hawkins – This isn’t how anyone wants to make their MLS debut, but Stuart Hawkins made his entering the game in the 83rd minute.