Fine margins: Sounders eke out a final home win

SEATTLE – The Seattle Sounders locked in their fifth-place finish in the West with a 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake on a rainy Saturday night. Despite a significantly rotated side due to absences through injury, international duty and suspension, the Sounders had enough to claim their 14th win of the season thanks to a 4th-minute goal from Paul Rothrock.

Seattle were on top of RSL from the opening whistle. Rothrock and Jordan Morris nearly combined for a look inside the 6-yard box in the 2nd minute, then in the 4th minute Morris broke through the defense to get to the end line with the ball before cutting it back to Pedro de la Vega who seemed to try to shoot but his touch instead sent the ball to Rothrock at the back post. Rothrock got enough contact on the ball to put it past goalkeeper Rafael Cabral and give the Sounders a 1-0 lead.

Just a few minutes later and Rothrock and Morris were both involved again, this time with Rothrock playing a ball to Morris who then was taken down inside the box. Although the foul wasn’t initially called, after review the Sounders were awarded a penalty. Morris stepped up to the spot, but hit his penalty at a favorable height too close to the ‘keeper and Cabral was able to block it away for a corner.

Undeterred by the missed opportunity to double the lead, Seattle kept pushing for more but never really tested the RSL GK despite creating good chances and only narrowly missing on several occasions. For their part RSL had a few looks at goal during the half, but never mustered the composure or quality to make anything of them.

After having been outshot by the Sounders 10-4 in the first half, RSL had more of the chances during the second half. The visitors managed 9 shots to Seattle’s 5 and forced Frei to make 4 saves, although none of them were particularly difficult stops. Still, it was RSL who appeared to have scored the game’s second goal in the 89th minute. Danny Musovski committed an unnecessary foul on Johnny Russell in Seattle’s half, and on the following free kick Victor Olatunji won a header at the back post over Alex Roldan and William Agada headed the ball into the back of the net. The goal was initially awarded, but then a very quick video review determined that Olatunji was in position to win that ball because he was offside and the goal was wiped away.

Seattle went on to absorb a few waves of pressure, some odd decisions around fouls and timekeeping from the referee, and threatened a couple of times themselves during stoppage time before finally hearing the full-time whistle. The Sounders will now prepare for their regular season finale on the road against New York City FC next Saturday, October 18.

Lineups

Changes abound as the Sounders weather a whole XI worth of absences. Danny Leyva and João Paulo slot into the midfield pivot with Cristian Roldan and Albert Rusnák both unavailable. Jon Bell lines up at left back, Alex Roldan slides into Center Back beside Jackson Ragen, and Kalani Kossa-Rienzi takes the right back spot with Nouhou away on Cameroon duty and Kim Kee-hee out injured.

Key moments

2 - Chance! Bell plays a ball through for Rothrock who nearly finds Morris with a cut back from the end line, but they can’t quite connect and RSL clear the area.

4 - GOAL! Morris fights through a challenge, cuts the ball back to de la Vega who gets a touch near the penalty spot to send the ball to the back post where Rothrock puts it in the back of the net! 1-0, Sounders

10 - Penalty! Rothrock plays a ball from the wing back to Leyva at the top of the box. Leyva slips a pass to Morris who gets taken down and awarded a penalty after review.

14 - Save! Morris steps up to the spot to take the penalty, but Cabral guesses right and parries his shot wide and out for a corner.

16 - Shot! Kossa-Rienzi does well to control the ball and play a nice pass with de la Vega and Morris both making runs. De la Vega gets on the ball and hits a shot that slides just wide.

17 - Chance! Kossa-Rienzi is at it again after a nice play by de la Vega to keep the ball in play on the right wing, but KKR looks off several options to cut inside and shoot but puts it wide.

21 - Shot. Leyva takes too big of a touch and loses the ball in Seattle’s half. RSL go forward quick, but the eventual shot is hit to the Hawk’s Nest.

25 - Shot! Leyva sends in a corner that gets knocked down for Ragen who takes a touch but puts too much on his shot and he hits it over.

34 - Shot! RSL build up a threatening attack that Seattle can’t quite break up, but the shot that follows goes wide of goal.

HT - Sub. Ariath Piol leaves the game, replaced by William Agada for RSL.

47 - Save! RSL work a short corner and get Katranis on the ball at the edge of the box. He rips a shot, but Frei easily catches and holds onto the ball.

52 - Chance! Ferreira goes for either a cross or a very audacious chip, but the ball floats just over the bar.

60 - Sub. João Paulo’s night is done as Stuart Hawkins enters the game for the Sounders.

63 - Miss! Agada has a great look on a header with a cross coming in from the right, but his effort goes just wide.

64 - Sub. Victor Olatunji comes in for RSL, replacing Rwan Cruz.

69 - Sub. Pablo Ruiz comes out and is replaced by Jesus Barea for RSL.

70 - Shot! Ferreira plays Rothrock in behind with a fantastic ball over the top, but Rothrock’s shot goes wide.

74 - Save! RSL win the ball back after a Seattle corner and work their way down the field, but the shot at the end of the sequence is blocked and gathered by Frei.

79 - Offside! Rothrock looks to have doubled the lead after Morris put the ball on a platter for him, but Morris is ruled offside in the build-up.

80 - Subs. Seattle make a pair of changes as Jordan Morris and Pedro de la Vega make way for Peter Kingston and Danny Musovski.

81 - Sub. Noel Caliskan comes out and is replaced by Johnny Russell for RSL.

85 - Save! Frei appears to bobble a save after some threatening possession for RSL, but he’s able to fall on the ball before Olatunji can reach it.

89 - Offside! After Musovski gives up a free kick, Olatunji wins a header at the back post over Roldan and Agada heads it in to equalize. Video review shows that Olatunji was offside and the goal is waved off.

90+2 - Sub. Antino Lopez replaces Jesus Ferreira for the Sounders.

Quick thoughts

In the middle of it all: Danny Leyva certainly hasn’t had the role he’d have hoped for so far in his time as a Sounder. He’s only played 609 minutes in MLS this season, and hadn’t started since going the full 90 minutes in Seattle’s 5-2 win over Sporting Kansas City on Aug. 24. But with the midfield particularly depleted for this game he got the start alongside João Paulo and was crucial to the Sounders’ possession game throughout his 90 minutes. Leyva finished with the most touches (109), pass attempts (87) and completed passes (80) for either team. He was also the most fouled player (6) and won 8/13 duels. It was far from a perfect performance, but it was the kind of showing in the middle of the field that should earn him increased opportunities throughout the rest of this season and beyond.

Next man up: Four changes to the lineup doesn’t feel like that much, given the number of players unavailable, but it’s still nearly half of the outfield players and considering that those four changes don’t account for Alex Roldan shifting over to center back (and then into midfield), the changes to a typical starting lineup are massive. To fill those gaps the Sounders leaned heavily on their development pipeline, particularly off of the bench. Four of the Starting XI have come through Tacoma Defiance on their way to the first team, one player joined through the draft, and another still spent time with the academy before eventually becoming a homegrown player. Three of the four Seattle substitutes came through the academy and Defiance before suiting up for the first team, and all three unused subs have Defiance to credit for a good chunk of their development. While “next man up” is a phrase used all throughout the sports world, it’s more than just a series of words for the Sounders.

Often unsung hero: Alex Roldan is often overshadowed somewhat by Cristian Roldan, but increasingly this season he’s making his impacts un-ignorable. With the CB group particularly sparse – both Yeimar and Kim Kee-hee are out with injuries – Roldan was asked to play alongside Jackson Range in what was at times a back-three with Jon Bell on the other side, and at times a more traditional-looking back-four. After a very solid hour in that spot, he moved up into midfield as JP exited the game, another position that’s not his usual role. He finished the game with 71/77 completed passes, 89 touches, 1/1 successful dribble, eight passes into the final third and 3/5 long balls. He almost never put a foot wrong, winning 7/10 duels, and adding six tackles and five recoveries. He’s a crucial piece of this team, and he deserves to have his praises sung.

Notable quote

Brian Schmetzer on players stepping up: “Guys step up and do what they’re supposed to do, not just when it’s easy ... we’ve got young leaders stepping up ... you’ve got guys, Jonathan Bell, Danny Leyva, everyone on the squad has pitched in at some point in time over the course of this year."

Player spotlight

Pedro de la Vega was credited with 3 chances created, won 10/11 duels, and had an assist on Rothrock’s goal.