SEATTLE – As first steps go, this was definitely a good one. The Seattle Sounders won’t have to talk about losing streaks for at least the next few days, thanks to their 3–0 win over Liga MX’s Querétaro in Leagues Cup on Sunday.
Aside from the final result, there were some generally positive developments, too. Albert Rusnák looked far closer to the version of himself that had been one of the most consistent goal contributors in the league over the last three seasons; Danny Musovski put in a perfectly competent performance at the No. 9; and the Sounders even got dash of hope from Sebastian Gomez’s first-ever start, as he contributed a goal and an assist.
But being entirely honest, it was also ONLY a start. The Sounders dug themselves quite a hole with their seven-game losing streak and one solid performance against a rotated side with debatable motivation stops the bleeding, but not much more than that.
The good news, I suppose, is that the Sounders seem to be well aware of this. While head coach Brian Schmetzer was clearly relieved to finally have something positive to talk about in his postgame press-conference, he wasn’t taking a victory lap either.
“It’s going to help, but we still have a long way to go,” Schmetzer said. “Realistically, we have a tough stretch of league games. We have to build some momentum.”
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The positives in this one started early, with Gomez’s goal providing the punctuation. That play started when the Sounders managed to do something they’ve rarely done during their losing streak: play out of pressure and create a genuine open-field chance.
The key pass in the sequence was when Peter Kingston played a ball forward to Gomez, who then turned up field and carried it about 30 yards before passing to Danny Musovski. Importantly, Gomez never broke stride after giving up the ball and found himself in perfect position when Paul Rothrock played a cross through the box. All Gomez had to do at that point was hit it cleanly, which he did.
Kingston was again the key component of the second goal, this time playing a through ball to Rothrock that cut out two entire lines of defense. Rothrock again played a near perfect ball, this time finding Musovski for what was essentially a tap-in from 14 yards as the goalkeeper was hopelessly stuck in no-man’s land.
The final goal may have been the most encouraging, though, as it felt a bit more controlled. This time it was Jesús Ferreira breaking lines with a pass, finding Musovski, who made a nice turn to work himself free. He sent a cross to the top of the box that Gomez alertly played back to Rusnák, who opened up a shooting lane with his first touch and then rifled the ball inside the near post.
“We’re in a rough spot, but now we can get hot again,” Gomez said. “We’re going to use this momentum.”
Thanks to their 3–0 loss to Toluca, the Sounders are still an extreme long shot to advance to the Knockout Phase of this tournament. It would not only require them to beat Chivas on Wednesday, but for at least eight teams ahead of them in the standings to also drop points. But advancement is not the most important thing at this point. The Sounders just need to keep the positivity building, both through their play and ideally with some reinforcements. For the first time in months, that at least seems possible.
