A hard earned three points: Sounders top Santos Laguna

SEATTLE – The Seattle Sounders claimed consecutive wins for the first time in two months after beating Santos Laguna 2-1 in Leagues Cup action on Sunday. A 75th-minute Georgi Minoungou second-yellow red card and a late Santos goal made things tighter than they should have been, but an 8th-minute own-goal from defender Oscar Ortega and Minoungou’s 72nd-minute goal proved enough to see Seattle through.

Seattle got off to a hot start, as Pedro de la Vega tested backup goalkeeper Hector Holguin in the 4th minute before the Sounders got the opener in the 8th minute. Alex Roldan played a fantastic ball between a pair of defenders for Paul Rothrock to run onto before hitting a low ball across the face of goal for Danny Musovski to run onto, but Santos Laguna defender Oscar Ortega intervened and put the ball in his own net. That own goal gave Seattle a 1-0 lead, and it seemed like they were going to be off and running.

The Sounders continued to create chances, and even appeared to have a penalty and a man advantage after a chaotic play just after the half-hour mark. Danny Musovski rode a challenge going into the box before eventually being clattered into from behind while attempting to get a shot off, which resulted in the referee pointing to the spot and showing Javier Guemez a red card for the foul. After a Video Assisted Review, however, the penalty was waved off and the red card rescinded due to a small shirt tug by Musovski after he’d seemingly been fouled.

Both sides had their chances in the final 15 minutes or so plus stoppage time of the first half, including Emmanuel Echeverria registering Santos’ first shot of the game in the 5th minute of stoppage time, but the scoreline remained 1-0 at halftime.

Seattle continued to apply pressure coming out of halftime, including a flurry of looks in the first minute of the second half culminating in a well-struck effort by Danny Leyva that went wide. Albert Rusnák, Osaze De Rosario and Minoungou combined for a threatening moment in the 65th minute, but the chance came to nothing and Minoungou was shown a yellow card just two minutes after entering the game on the play.

That yellow proved more important than it should have been in the 75th minute. First, a few minutes earlier, Minoungou received a pass on the left from Leyva and drove into the box, moving centrally before smashing a shot into the goal from the top of the box to give the Sounders the second goal they’d been working so hard for. Unfortunately, after he scored, Minoungou lifted his shirt over his head to reveal a message written on his undershirt. Following the goal, he was shown a second yellow card for his celebration and was sent to an early shower with Seattle having to play the final 15 minutes of regulation down a player.

Seattle worked to see the game out, limiting their opponents primarily to low-percentage shots like the effort in the 89th minute from Franco Fagundez that was hit from distance and easily caught by Andrew Thomas. Unfortunately they left a gap open in the final minutes of second half stoppage time when a simple ball over the top wasn’t dealt with by Nouhou and Cristian Dajome was able to beat Thomas at his near post to get a goal back for Santos Laguna and make it 2-1. The play was initially flagged for offside, but Dajome was clearly onside upon review and the goal was given in the 7th minute of stoppage time.

Seattle now move on to their final match of the first phase of Leagues Cup, hosting Tijuana on Wednesday.

Lineups

The Sounders make four changes from the starting XI against Cruz Azul, highlighted by Pedro de la Vega’s return to the starting lineup on the left. Paul Rothrock starts on the right in place of Jesús Ferreira, while Cristian Roldan gets a bit of a rest with Danny Leyva stepping into the XI and Yeimar makes way for Kim Kee-hee. Alex Roldan wears the captain’s armband in his brother’s absence.

Key moments

4 - Shot! Seattle’s first effort of the game comes as Rothrock picks off a ball in Santos’ half and finds de la Vega, who pulls from distance but has his shot caught.

8 - GOAL! Alex Roldan slides a ball through the defense for Rothrock who hits a low cross for Musovski that’s knocked in by a defender. 1-0, Sounders

22 - Chance! Rusnák sends in a free kick that Kim heads back across from the back post to Musovski who gets contact but can’t quite put any power behind his header.

32 - After a penalty and DOGSO red card are called on the field, the referee reviews the play and rescinds both for a foul by Musovski earlier in the play.

39 - CHANCE! Rusnák with a great attempt from a free kick that’s saved by the goalkeeper. Rothrock gets a header on the rebound, but puts it over the bar.

45+5 - Chance! A cross makes its way through Seattle’s box to Echeverría, but he puts his shot wide under pressure from Roldan.

46 - SHOT! Leyva gets a look after a Rothrock shot bounces around following a save from the GK, but Leyva’s effort from the top of the box goes wide.

60 - Subs. Santos bring on Cristian Dajome and Kevin Palacios for Jose Abello and Jordan Carrillo.

63 - Subs. Seattle take off Danny Musovski, Paul Rothrock and Pedro de la Vega, replaced by Jesús Ferreira, Georgi Minoungou and Osaze De Rosario.

65 - Chance! Rusnák plays De Rosario in with a header and DeRo rides a challenge before laying the ball off to Minoungou, but the GK cleans it up and Minoungou is called for a foul.

72 - GOAL! Georgi Minoungou from the top of the box! Leyva finds him in space and Minoungou dribbles at the defense before cutting inside to finish to the far post! 2-0, Sounders

75 - Red card. Minoungou is shown a second yellow card for pulling his jersey over his head, and Seattle are down to 10 men for the final 15 minutes.

76 - Subs. Santos brings on Franco Fagundez and Anthony Lozano and takes off Bruno Barticciotto and Aldo Lopez.

78 - Sub. Cristian Roldan comes on for Seattle, replacing Albert Rusnák.

79 - Sub. Jesus Ocejo comes on for Santos, and Edson Gutierrez comes off.

89 - Save! Fagúndez takes a low shot from distance that is hit hard but easily caught by Thomas.

90 - Sub. Danny Leyva comes off and is replaced by Kalani Kossa-Rienzi for Seattle.

90+7 - Goal, Santos. A ball played over the top for Dajome who was kept onside by Nouhou who misplays the ball, and Dajome beats Thomas to get one back. The AR initially flagged for offside, but the goal is given.

Quick thoughts

Alex Roldan’s maturation: Maybe it’s a Roldan thing, but Alex Roldan seems to be playing some of the best football of his career at the age of 29. He’s shown an impressive level of versatility throughout this season, being used in a variety of ways as the right-sided fullback or wingback, as well as looking credible as a centerback. But wearing the captain’s armband against Santos Laguna with Stefan Frei unavailable and Cristian Roldan getting a breather, the younger Roldan was calm, composed, and absolutely dealing from the right side. He wasn’t credited with any chances created, but his pass to Rothrock on the opening goal was fantastic. He completed 41/48 passes including 2/3 long passes with 7 passes into the final third. He had 75 touches, never got dispossessed, and put in a solid defensive performance with 8 defensive actions and 6/11 duels won.

Putting a run together: The Sounders are currently on an eight-game unbeaten run since their Club World Cup exit, but despite their 5-0-3 record across all competitions in that span they just won back-to-back games for the first time since beating FC Dallas and San Diego FC on May 24 and 28. The two wins couldn’t have been much more different, dominating Cruz Azul 7-0 after a pretty even and scoreless first half, then despite largely dominating the game against Santos Laguna only scraping out a 2-1 win that included playing the last 15 minutes down a man. The need to get a scrappy win against a struggling Santos side is less than ideal, but the ability to win in different ways is important. Leagues Cup presents Seattle’s simplest path to a trophy lift and a Concacaf Champions Cup berth, and if they want to progress they’ll likely need at least a result against Tijuana. If they can progress and keep this ball rolling, not only do their chances at a Leagues Cup title increase but the opportunity to build confidence and form can only serve the team well as they push towards the MLS playoffs.

Another red card: Every red card is different, but so many red cards are also very much the same. Maybe not in exact actions or moments, but in spirit, it feels like a lot of Seattle’s sending-offs have an odd similarity. There have been several second-yellows for the Sounders this season, usually involving at least one soft yellow and a lapse of judgment. Sometimes it’s a straight red for a moment of madness or an absolutely foolish challenge. Tonight it was an unfortunate – if possibly also unfair judgment – yellow almost as soon as Minoungou stepped on the field, followed by bit of youthful exuberance after hitting an absolute banger that proved to be the winning goal in his first appearance for the Sounders since the PSG game in the Club World Cup, and his first goal since April 26 with Tacoma Defiance. It was a lapse of judgement, it probably won’t happen again, but it’s a little weird that it keeps happening.

Notable quote

Brian Schmetzer on the team’s performance: "Since the Club World Cup, the team has played at this level. And this tournament as well has made us play at a higher level, because the games are hard. ... We’re going to continue the message that this tournament is important, every game is important, and we’re going to need everyone on the team to play to a high level.”

Player spotlight

Danny Leyva will get credited with the assist on Minoungou’s goal, but his performance was much more than that as he hardly put a foot wrong all night. He went 32/37 passing with 7 passes into the final third and 3 chances created. He also won all 6 of his duels (5/5 ground duels, 1/1 aerial duels) and had 6 recoveries.