Penalty heroics: Sounders top Puebla in shootout

The Seattle Sounders hosted Club Puebla in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday night. It took all 90 minutes and penalties after the game finished 0-0, but the Sounders ultimately pulled out a 4-3 shootout victory to advance.

Seattle played what’s just about as full-strength of a lineup to start this one. While they were able to assert some dominance to the tune of 83% possession through the first half (at least according to Fotmob) with lots of possession in Puebla’s half, they only held a 5-3 shots advantage, never forced goalkeeper Julio Gonzalez to make a save, and entered halftime 0-0.

Puebla were clearly content to play compact, clog the middle of the field, and look for opportunities to hit in transition. They were able to effectively stifle Seattle’s attack, resulting in lots of slowly-moving possession between the back line and the central midfielders and precious few truly dangerous moments for the Sounders. A degree of frustration could be seen building on both sides as Puebla’s physicality disrupted nearly any sense of rhythm that Seattle managed to build-up.

The second half was much the same. Truly, the only moment of excitement was for all the wrong reasons from a Seattle perspective. In the 76th minute Danny Musovski attempted to hold a player off as he worked his way into the box, but in doing so he clearly hit the player in the face which resulted in a foul being called and a yellow being shown to Musovski. Having been in a physical battle all night, Musovski blew up in a completely unacceptable reaction to the referee, bumping him and earning himself a red card. That moment of excitement left the Sounders down to 10 men and unable to break down Puebla, ultimately sending the two sides to penalties after the game ended 0-0.

Despite Cristian Roldan starting the shootout with a miss by putting his attempt off the post, the Sounders ultimately came out on top winning 4-3 on penalties. Andrew Thomas followed up Roldan’s miss with a strong two-handed save, and closed the shootout with another save. They made it about as tough for themselves as it could be, but Seattle advance to the Leagues Cup semifinals where they’l hit the road for the first time in the tournament to take on the LA Galaxy. First, they’ll host Sporting Kansas City on Sunday.

Lineups

Andrew Thomas is back between the pipes in place of Stefan Frei for the return of Leagues Cup. Pedro de la Vega takes his starting spot on the left wing again, and Danny Musovski returns to the XI up top as Reed Baker-Whiting and Osaze De Rosario begin the evening on the bench.

Key moments

8 - Shot! The first shot of the game belongs to Puebla as Gómez fires on the turn from inside the area, but puts his shot high.

10 - Turnover! Ferreira jumps on a loose pass and Seattle drive towards the final third. The ball ends up on the right with Rothrock who hits a low cross that’s easily caught by Gonzalez.

15 - Shot! Some nice passing in the final third leads to Rothrock nutmegging a defender on his way into the box, but his shot from just inside the area is off the mark.

16 - CHANCE! De la Vega plays Rothrock into the box with a perfectly shaped ball, but Rothrock’s attempt to cut the ball back is blocked out for a corner.

26 - Save! Monárrez fires from way outside the box and hits his shot hard and low, but Thomas is able to dive and grab the ball.

56 - Chance! Ragen connects on a corner, but can’t get enough power behind his header and the GK collects before Rothrock can intervene.

64 - Shot! Alex Roldan clips in a shot from outside the area that freezes the GK on his line, but floats just over the bar.

65 - Sub. Georgi Minoungou comes on in place of Pedro de la Vega for the Sounders.

71 - SHOT! Ferreira has a great opportunity on the turn after Musovski flicks a Rothrock cross to him, but he puts his shot wide of the post.

72 - Sub. Owen Gonzalez comes on for Puebla, taking the place of Emiliano Gómez.

76 - RED CARD! Musovski is shown a yellow for a hand to the face, and in his reaction he bumps the ref and is shown a straight red. Seattle are down to 10.

78 - Sub. Paul Rothrock exits the game and is replaced by Osaze De Rosario for Seattle.

82 - Save! Rey smashes a shot from outside the area, but Thomas is easily able to catch it.

83 - Sub. Esteban Lozano replaces Alejandro Organista for Puebla.

85 - Shot. Ferreira steps over a dangerous free kick won by Vargas, but he puts his shot from 25 yards out well over the goal.

90+1 - Chance! From a short corner Minoungou plays a low ball to Ragen at the near post who tries to flick it in, but his attempt is blocked out for another corner.

90+3 - Sub. Danny Leyva comes on as Nouhou exits the game for Seattle.

PENALTIES

Sounders: Cristian Roldan takes Seattle’s first penalty, hitting the post with power but his shot goes out. 0-0

Puebla: Ricardo Marin takes Puebla’s first penalty, goes to his right but Thomas dives and paws it away! 0-0

Sounders: Alex Roldan takes Seattle’s second penalty, sends the ‘keeper one way and goes down the middle! 1-0 Sounders

Puebla: Esteban Lozano takes Puebla’s second penalty, sends Thomas to the side and finishes with power down the middle. 1-1

Sounders: Jackson Ragen takes Seattle’s third penalty, trots up and slots his shot right inside the post! 2-1 Sounders

Puebla: Owen Gonzalez takes Puebla’s third penalty, smashing his shot into the side netting to his left. 2-2

Sounders: Jesús Ferreira takes Seattle’s fourth penalty, and he blasts his penalty over the GK. 3-2 Sounders

Puebla: Fernando Monarrez takes Puebla’s fourth penalty, sending a rocket into the back of the net. 3-3

Sounders: Obed Vargas takes Seattle’s fifth penalty, stutters on his run up and sends the GK to the side as he slides the ball in! 4-3 Sounders

Puebla: Nicolas Diaz takes Puebla’s fifth penalty, and Thomas easily stuffs his left-footed attempt with one hand! 4-3 Sounders

Quick thoughts

Je ne sais quoi: Albert Rusnák’s production kind of speaks for itself: 10 goals and 12 primary assists in MLS last season, 10 goals and 6 assists already in MLS this season. Another 2 goals and 1 assist in all competitions in 2025. But even with all that, it can be hard to pinpoint exactly what he does that’s so good. As a result it can be easiest to see what he does through his absence, and unfortunately we’re getting a pretty good glimpse right now. It’s not so much that there’s a single thing the Sounders lack when he’s not on the field, so much as a bunch of little things that no other player or other collection of players offer in the same way. Albert Rusnák doesn’t necessarily offer something magical, he is the something magical, that thing you can’t quite pinpoint that makes the whole thing work. His return can’t come soon enough.

Goalkeeper controversy: It’s an attention-grabbing title, but the truth of the matter is there’s not really any goalkeeper controversy. Stefan Frei is Seattle’s starting goalkeeper as long as he’s available, and Andrew Thomas is his backup getting a run in the Leagues Cup as well as in the league when Frei’s been out. The thing is, Thomas has been putting in the kinds of performances that lead to a goalkeeper controversy under most circumstances. He didn’t have to do a whole ton in this one. He made two saves during regulation, but both were pretty straightforward shots from distance that he was able to pretty easily catch. But he made those saves, and then in the shootout he made a couple more to send the Sounders through to the next round. Andrew Thomas still has parts of his game that he needs to improve on if he wants to be Seattle’s starting ‘keeper, but those things only come with reps. He’s going to get at least two more reps this season (Seattle are guaranteed a semifinal and either the final or 3rd place game), and then who knows what happens.

Using your depth: Another game, another 90 minutes for both Cristian Roldan and Obed Vargas. Another 90 minutes for Jesús Ferreira, Jackson Ragen, Alex Roldan, Yeimar, even Nouhou didn’t sub out of the game until second half stoppage time. Danny Leyva came on for Nouhou, the third of three total subs made by Brian Schmetzer in this game. That’s the same number of subs as the game over the weekend, which could have certainly benefited from fresh legs and a player who can pass the ball like Leyva, just like this game. The guys starting want to play, I get that, and Schmetzer often talks about how he leaves a group on the field together because he thinks that’s the group that’s most likely to get a result. But some of Schmetzer’s substitution decisions, or lack there of, don’t really seem to be doing himself, the team or the players any favors. The Sounders have been praised throughout the season for their depth, but depth isn’t worth much if it’s just sitting on the bench while the minutes on the starters’ legs continue to climb and climb.

Notable quote

Player spotlight

Andrew Thomas is the reason the Sounders are still in Leagues Cup, making two saves in the penalty shootout to continue his strong run of form.