Sounders at Whitecaps, CCC recap: Victory in Vancouver

The Seattle Sounders opened their Concacaf Champions Cup campaign with a trip up to visit the Vancouver Whitecaps at B.C. Place. The game couldn’t have gone much better for Seattle, as the Sounders picked up a 3-0 win over their Cascadian foes thanks to a trio of goals from the Pauls. Paul Arriola opened up the scoring in the 45th minute, then doubled the lead in the 58th and Paul Rothrock sealed the result with a goal in the 69th.

The two sides exchanged chances in the game’s opening minutes, but timely interventions and some less than clinical finishing kept the score level. The game was more or less even, although Vancouver held the bulk of possession, but Seattle were able to generate the better chances. Finally in the 45th minute the Sounders were able to turn one of those chances into the game’s much needed first goal.

Jesús Ferreira was applying pressure near Vancouver’s box when Mathías Laborda played a poor back pass and Ferreira pounced on it, much like he did for the goal on the weekend against St. Louis City. As he drove into the area defenders closed in around him, leaving Arriola open between the penalty spot and six-yard box. Ferreira popped the ball through a window between two players and Arriola finished into a practically empty net, scoring his first goal in over a year.

The beginning of the second half was relatively quiet, but things started to liven up again just before the hour mark. Ferreira and Snyder Brunell worked to play out of pressure in midfield and Brunell eventually found Osaze De Rosario near the midfield line. De Rosario played a spectacular through ball down the right wing for Kalani Kossa-Rienzi, who raced into space and hit a cross for Arriola. Eider Ocampo blocked the shot and goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka got a touch to it, but Arriola had the final touch to knock it home in the 58th minute.

Shortly after the goal, Arriola subbed off for Seattle's other goal scorer, Paul Rothrock, in the 62nd minute. Before Rothrock could have his say, though, Stefan Frei had to make what was certainly his biggest contribution of the game. A Whitecaps corner was served into the box where Laborda got great contact on a header that he put down towards the far post, but Frei was able to contort his body and get a strong arm to the ball to deny a sure goal, and the ball was cleared.

Almost immediately following that play, the Sounders quickly worked the ball down the field, going from Alex Roldan in the back to Ferreira on the wing; Ferreira clipped a ball into a pocket of space for Cristian Roldan who then hit a great pass around the Vancouver defense intended for Danny Musovski. Musovski couldn’t quite make contact as he dove for the ball, but the play froze Takaoka and as the ball headed towards the end line Rothrock rushed in to finish off the play, smashing the ball home as a defender and the GK slid in to try to close him down.

With the game more or less wrapped up, Vancouver continued to push for a goal of their own to simplify the job in the return leg. First Antino Lopez came up with a big tackle to deny Brian White in the 90th minute, then Thomas Müller saw his shot strike the crossbar in the 5th minute of stoppage time before Frei saved the game’s final shot from Sebastian Berhalter.

The Sounders now turn their attention to Sunday’s meeting with the San Jose Earthquakes before the second leg of this CCC tie in Spokane on Wednesday, March 19.

Lineups

With Yeimar out with an injury and Hassani Dotson in concussion protocol, the Sounders start Paul Arriola on the left wing with Jesús Ferreira on the right, Snyder Brunell next to Cristian Roldan in midfield, and Alex Roldan at centerback with Kalani Kossa-Rienzi sliding into right back. Stefan Frei takes over at goalkeeper for the tournament.

Key moments

2 - Block! A Sounders drive creates no real danger and the Whitecaps come storming down, but Alex Roldan blocks a shot from Elloumi out for a corner.

5 - Block! Alex Roldan attempts to dribble out of the back but takes too big of a touch and turns it over deep in Seattle’s half, but a cross is blocked out for a corner.

7 - Shot! De Rosario wins the ball outside the box and swings a cross over to Arriola who gets enough of a touch to set Rusnák up for a shot, but it goes wide.

10 - Chance! De Rosario does well to win position against Blackmon and receive a clever pass from Arriola, but his shot is easily handled as Arriola made himself available for a pass inside the area.

14 - Chance! Arriola has a great opportunity after some beautiful passing from Brunell, Rusnák and Ferreira, but the ball surprises him a bit after a slip from Blackmon and his shot is blocked.

23 - Shot! Rusnák takes a quick free kick after Brunell is brought down about 25 yards out from goal, but his attempt to catch Takaoka unaware goes just wide.

31 - Shot! Larraz unleashes a shot from just outside Seattle’s area after the Sounders are unable to convincingly clear the ball, but his effort slides wide.

32 - Block! Müller has a good look, but Nouhou is able to fling his body and block the ball away and out for a throw-in.

44 - Clearance! Alex Roldan makes a stooping headed clearance in the middle of the box on a corner, but it falls to Larraz who lashes his effort wide of goal.

45 - GOAL! Ferreira jumps on a sloppy pass in Vancouver’s end, drives into the box and finds Arriola for a simple finish to take the lead! 1-0, Sounders

HT - Sub. Vancouver take off Tristan Blackmon and bring on Ralph Priso.

58 - GOAL! ARRIOLA AGAIN! This time it’s Kossa-Rienzi providing the ball in after De Rosario plays him down the right channel. His cross is initially blocked by Ocampo and Takaoka, but Arriola has the last touch! 2-0, Sounders

62 - Subs. Danny Musovski and Paul Rothrock come on for Seattle as Paul Arriola and Osaze De Rosario leave the game.

62 - Subs. Rayan Elloumi and Emmanuel Sabbi leave the game for Vancouver as Cheikh Sabaly and Brian White enter.

66 - Wide! Müller rises up to get his head to a cross from Johnson, but his effort isn’t quite on the mark.

69 - SAVE! Frei comes up with a great sprawling save to deny Laborda from a corner, and Priso skies his shot on the rebound.

69 - GOAL! Another Paul goal, this time it’s Rothrock! A sweet ball over the top puts Cristian Roldan in space, Roldan looks to play in Musovski but it’s out of his reach and Rothrock rushes on to finish the play off! 3-0, Sounders

75 - Sub. Oliver Larraz comes off and Jeevan Badwal enters the game for the Whitecaps.

77 - Subs. Jesús Ferreira and Albert Rusnák exit the game as Peter Kingston and Nikola Petković sub in for Seattle.

83 - Sub. Vancouver swap AZ Jackson into the game, removing Kenji Cabrera.

89 - Sub. Seattle’s final change comes with Alex Roldan leaving the game, replaced by Antino Lopez.

90 - Tackle! Lopez makes a diving challenge to get a touch on the ball and deny White a chance, sending the ball out for a corner.

90+5 - Clang! Frei comes out to punch a cross but can’t reach it and Müller attempts a put-back, but his shot hits off the crossbar and is cleared out!

90+5 - Save! Frei comes up with one final stop, saving a shot in the game’s final moments to keep the clean sheet!

Quick thoughts

A fairytale comeback: Brian Schmetzer mentioned in his post-match press conference that Paul Arriola’s performance tonight - his first start in any match since his ACL injury suffered in this same competition last year against Cruz Azul - came a year and a day after the original injury. Arriola had started the season strongly with a pair of goals in Seattle’s opening CCC series against Antigua GFC, looking every bit like the player the Sounders had hoped they were getting when they acquired him from FC Dallas, but the injury deprived him and the Sounders of the season he looked poised to have. Now he’s back, and he looks just as good as ever. On top of his brace he also drew a foul, won all of his duels (2/2 ground duels, 1/1 aerial duels), had 1 tackle, 3 clearances and 4 recoveries. With other attacking injuries, it’s good to have a game changing talent back on the field.

Star kids in the center: Obed Vargas was a staple in Seattle’s midfield for years, and with his departure there have been questions of who would inherit his mantle. In this match, paired up against a pair of high profile MLS homegrown players including one likely to represent the USMNT in this summer’s World Cup, along with a German national team legend, Snyder Brunell made a strong case for that inheritance. Brunell’s ability and willingness to run for his teammates helps to open up space, and his knack for dribbling out of trouble is a genuinely field-shifting skill. Playing most of the game against the ball, Brunell was a key part of limiting Vancouver’s ability to consistently generate actual threats and regularly helped turn turnovers into attacks. This performance will go a long way towards earning more opportunities to prove himself.

Starting caliber: It seems almost unnecessary to mention how Alex Roldan is a starting caliber player at multiple positions at this point. One of the league’s top right backs can step inside to play centerback against a team that put 4 goals past the Portland Timbers over the weekend and still look like one of the best players on the field. It’s a bit of a luxury, but it would still cause palpitations for many teams to move such a high-level player out of their primary position and replace them with a backup. For the Sounders it simply means that another, albeit very different, starting caliber right back steps onto the field. Fresh off of a starring performance in which he scored the lone goal against St. Louis, Kalani Kossa-Rienzi got the start against Vancouver and helped create the second goal even if he won’t get an assist, but he did so much more than that. KKR had a strong defensive performance with 12 defensive contributions, won 7/10 duels including 3/3 aerial duels, drew 2 fouls, and completed 4/5 long balls. The present and future of Seattle’s right back spot is very strong.

Notable quote

Brian Schmetzer on Paul Arriola’s performance: “That’s the Paul Arriola that Sounders fans are going to be happy with, and that I’m happy with."

Player spotlight

Jesús Ferreira – Ferreira had another assist, his 4th in 4 games, creating 2 big chances according to Fotmob, made 2 tackles, had 3 recoveries and won 4/8 duels.