The Seattle Sounders hit the road to take on Inter Miami in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. with a chance to put the frustrating draw against the LA Galaxy behind them and further back-up their Leagues Cup victory. Instead they put up one of the worst halves we’ve seen from them in a long time, fell to a 3-0 deficit within an hour and managed to pull a goal back through Obed Vargas to make it a slightly more respectable 3-1 loss in the end.
Throughout the first half the Sounders seemed to struggle to get any sort of traction, often looking lethargic and almost disinterested as Miami ran the field. That disengaged feeling turned into an opening goal for Miami in the 12th minute when Cristian Roldan had the ball easily taken off of him, allowing Leo Messi to find Jordi Alba in acres of space on the left with Kalani Kossa-Rienzi pushed up the wing when Seattle had the ball, and Alba’s shot beat Stefan Frei despite the goalkeeper getting a slight touch to it.
Rather than taking the opening goal as a wake-up call, the Sounders only managed to create a pair of what would generously be called chances over the following 30 minutes or so before Miami doubled their lead. This time it was Paul Rothrock losing the ball on the right wing as he attempted to evade Rodrigo de Paul in order to switch the point of attack and Jordi Alba was able to set Messi up for a nice finish in the 41st minute making it 2-0.
Seattle made a pair of substitutions coming out of halftime, swapping Paul Rothrock and Yeimar out for Albert Rusnák and Jackson Ragen, but before the pair could have much of an impact Miami scored their third goal. This one came from a corner while Kim Kee-hee was off the field receiving treatment, and Ian Fray caught Kossa-Rienzi flat-footed on the back post to head de Paul’s corner in right over Frei.
Snyder Brunell and Jordan Morris came in for the Sounders in the 60th minute as Cristian Roldan and Osaze De Rosario exited the game, and it didn’t take long for Morris to have an impact. Ferreira won the ball with some good pressure and moved it along to Rusnák, who in turn played a great ball to Morris in space and Morris passed it through a defender to Obed Vargas who was crashing the box to put the Sounders on the board and make it 3-1 in the 69th minute.
The introductions of Brunell and Morris, particularly after the goal, seemed to spur the Sounders on, but they couldn’t find a way to add to their tally. The best chance of the rest of the game fell unsurprisingly to Messi, but Frei was able to come up with a quality kick save to deny him once again.
This marks Seattle’s first loss in a month, since their 0-1 result away against Minnesota United on August 16. They now turn their attention to Austin FC, who they’ll face on the road on Sunday, September 21.
Lineups
Changes abound for the Sounders from the XI that started against the LA Galaxy. Osaze De Rosario starts again against Miami, with Danny Musovski returning to the bench. Georgi Minoungou starts on the left wing, sending Paul Rothrock to the right as Kalani Kossa-Rienzi moves to right back in place of Alex Roldan. Kim Kee-hee starts at centerback to give Jackson Ragen a rest, and Nouhou is back in the lineup with Reed Baker-Whiting on the bench.
Tonight's Delta Starting XI! 🙌 📝 sndrs.com/b0xbxg8a | #MIAvSEA
— Sounders FC (@soundersfc.com) 2025-09-16T22:42:45.703Z
Key moments
1 - Shot! Allende cuts inside at the top of the box from the right and fires the game’s first shot, but it’s right at Frei who easily catches it.
12 - Goal, Miami. Cristian Roldan loses the ball in the Seattle half and Miami quickly go the other way as Messi plays Alba into space and Frei can’t stop his shot. 1-0, Miami
16 - Shot! Messi lays the ball off for Fray who hits a shot to the near post that Frei blocks, then manages to secure the rebound.
28 - Miss! Messi gets the ball in the box with tons of space, takes a couple touches to get more space and has Frei beat but hits the post!
30 - Shot! Seattle try to work their way into Miami’s box but the ball comes out to Ferreira who has a rip from the top of the box that goes wide.
33 - Save! Nouhou gets caught flat-footed and is out-jumped by Fray at the back post, but Frei is able to get enough of a touch to the header to put it out for a corner.
39 - Chance! Nouhou sends in a cross that De Rosario attempts to get on the end of, but with Falcon bear hugging him he can only make minimal contact.
41 - Goal, Miami. Alba sets up Messi, as Rothrock gives the ball up on the wing and Messi makes a nearly unmarked run to finish into the bottom corner. 2-0, Miami
44 - Save! Another bad giveaway in midfield for Seattle sends Miami on a counter and Messi has another good look that Frei is able to tip away from goal.
45+1 - Chance! Rothrock wins the ball, drives at goal and hits a shot that Ustari is able to get down and save.
HT - Subs. Jackson Ragen and Albert Rusnák enter the game, replacing Yeimar and Paul Rothrock for Seattle.
52 - Goal, Miami. Miami score again, this time from a corner as Fray smashes in a header over Kossa-Rienzi while Frei watches it fly in over his head. 3-0, Miami
55 - Chance! Rusnákplays Minoungou down the left, he gets separation and plays a ball across for De Rosario but his shot hits the outside of the post!
60 - Subs. Snyder Brunell and Jordan Morris enter the game for the Sounders, replacing Cristian Roldan and Osaze De Rosario.
64 - Shot! Vargas picks the ball up in Miami’s end, takes a few touches and hits a shot from outside the box that’s deflected by Falcon and caught by Ustari.
66 - Sub. Miami’s first change is Marcelo Weigandt coming on for Ian Fray.
69 - GOAL! Morris receives a great pass from Rusnak and cuts it back for Vargas, who smashes it in to pull one back! 3-1, Miami
Obed slots it home to put us on the board! 🇲🇽
— Sounders FC (@soundersfc.com) 2025-09-17T01:16:26.412Z
76 - Save! Brunell gives the ball away in his own half and it turns into another chance for Messi to run at Frei, but Frei makes a good kick save to deny him.
81 - Sub. Miami take off Tadeo Allende, bringing on Mateo Silvetti.
85 - Sub. Danny Musovski replaces Jesús Ferreira for Seattle.
88 - Chance! Minoungou is played into space by Brunell and finds Musovski centrally, but Ustari dives and catches the shot.
90+2 - Chance! Vargas plays Morris in, but Morris can’t get a shot off. The ball gets recycled around the box and Vargas ends up with a tame shot that’s easily handled.
Quick thoughts
Managing the men: I get it, players want to play, and a key player like Cristian Roldan is a pretty obvious pick for a game like this one. Except that he was looking leggy before the minor injury that limited him towards the end of the Leagues Cup run, and then he didn’t get any real rest when he joined the national team during the international break, and the minutes that are stacking up on his body were about as visible as they’ve ever been during the first half of this game. I won’t suggest that starting Snyder Brunell in this game would have changed the result, but it feels like he could have. Everything is clearer in hindsight, but it feels like an obvious error not to have started the young midfielder in either this game or the Galaxy game. There’s no “easy” game on the schedule to let him run and rest Roldan or Vargas, but Brunell has shown that he can be trusted in difficult situations. Tired legs won’t get less tired unless they’re given real rest, and Brian Schmetzer has the experience and trust of his players to make those big calls. He needs to start doing it.
The goalkeeper controversy: Speaking of big calls, Stefan Frei made some good saves in this game. He also looked trapped in jello like some sort of horrible recipe for carnivorous giants from the ‘50s on numerous occasions including two of the goals. Whatever benefit the team derives from starting Frei seems to be completely undone by his limitations at the moment. Maybe those limitations are something that he can play through, and with more reps they’ll be behind him, but the margins are thin for the Sounders if they want any sort of home field advantage when the playoffs start. I love Frei with every piece of my heart. When he gets a statue I’ll give it a big kiss every time I see it on my way into the stadium. Andrew Thomas should be starting in goal from here on out.
It’s good to be back: Jordan Morris’ 30 minutes on the field today was his longest outing since playing 45 minutes against Sporting Kansas City on July 12. That game also happened to be his last goal contribution, marking over two months without a goal or assist. To be fair, he’s only been on the field three times in that stretch, but it felt good to see him make a good run into the box and then play a very slick pass between a defender’s legs to set up Vargas for the goal. The assist gives Morris 4 goals and 1 assist in 448 MLS minutes, just a small reminder of how productive he's been when he’s been able to get on the field. It may still be a little while before he’s ready to start, but it feels very good to have him leading the line again.
Notable quote
Jordan Morris tried to put a bit of a positive spin on the result: “Going into playoffs, it’s good to have moments like this where you need to reset your focus. We have really important games coming up to try to secure top 4.”
— Sounder at Heart (@sounderatheart.com) 2025-09-17T02:04:31.630Z
Player spotlight
Snyder Brunell may have only played for 30 minutes, but his 30 minutes were better than just about anyone else in a Sounders kit. He went 30/33 passing, including 2/2 long balls, 3 passes into the final third, and 1 chance created. He completed his lone dribble, won 6/8 duels and a foul, and had 4 tackles.
