SEATTLE – It is often said that good teams create their own luck. While it’s probably a bit premature to call the Seattle Sounders a “good team”, they are at least creating their own luck.
The best example yet came on Thursday. After falling behind Wooden Spoon-leading Sporting KC 1–0 with a lackluster first half, the Sounders came roaring back in the second half to find an equalizer through some impressive hold up play by Jordan Morris, as he held off a centerback before finding Sebastian Gomez, who blasted his first career MLS goal into the net.
But that’s where the score stayed for about 40 minutes and as the match started ticking toward stoppage time, it looked like the Sounders might have to settle for a disappointing point.
The fates had different ideas. Cristian Roldan started the sequence by picking up a loose ball inside his own penalty area and then pushing it forward to Albert Rusnák. The midfielder found Jordan Morris in anchors of space, who then dribbled about 35 yards at a retreating Sporting KC defense. With Mark Bronnik to his left and Roldan charging forward on his right, Morris opted for the more difficult, but arguably more dangerous option.
Although Morris’ pass wasn’t quite hard enough to hit Roldan in stride, it did force the Sporting KC defender into an awkward clearance attempt. Roldan blocked that attempt past a sliding Stefan Cleveland for what proved to be a 90th-minute winner. The goal completed a nine-point home stand that pushed the Sounders from outside the playoffs into the seventh spot in the Western Conference and just three points out of the No. 6 spot with a game in hand on suddenly slumping LAFC.
“I’m just glad I made the effort to get there, and sometimes you get rewarded,” Roldan said, admitting he was “extremely gassed” after making the nearly 80-yard run. “It makes it a really nice week. Nine points is really big for us in this moment. Every game seems like a playoff game.
The goal – and more broadly, the result – is exactly the kind of moment the Sounders had been missing during an eight-game losing streak and 13-game winless run that was still active when they started this home stand.
“We needed to come out and get the win in any way possible,” Morris said. “The second goal wasn’t pretty. It went in the net and that’s all that matters.
“This is a turning point for us. Going on a tie streak, finally getting a couple of wins and moving up the table. We know we’re a dangerous team in the playoffs once we get there. That’s our goal. Its important to win in different ways and I think we showed that.”
The first two wins were relatively straightforward. The Sounders jumped out to early leads, built on them and then saw them out. They were undeniably positives steps as the Sounders look to salvage this season. To really reverse the vibes, though, they needed to complete the job against Sporting KC.
But for the first 45 minutes, it looked like it was an opportunity the Sounders weren’t quite ready to seize. The attack looked disjointed, the defense wasn’t clean and they were struggling to figure out Sporting KC’s press. Just before halftime, Alex Roldan’s clearance was blocked and it fell right to André Luiz, who laced a left-footed shot past Andrew Thomas.
“I was pissed at halftime,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said. “I had to make a sub. I could have made three or four, but I went with one because I’m conservative and I want guys to be able to take adjustments and apply them in the second half.”
The second half wasn’t exactly perfect, either. There were times when the Sounders got stretched and the offense wasn’t clinical. But they never put their heads down, either, and ended up registering their fourth come-from-behind result of this eight-game unbeaten run.
It’s also notable that all three of the Sounders’ recent wins came against teams struggling for results. We’ll find out if the Sounders are really contenders during this upcoming road trip against the New England Revolution and FC Dallas. But the Sounders have at least shown they’re ready to compete.
“We haven’t played amazing, don’t get me wrong,” Roldan said. “But the important thing is getting results. We’ve played well at times and not been on the right side. Now it seems like we’re getting results even though we’re not playing as well. That’s a sign of a good team. We need to continue in that way. You add some quality to our team and I think we’re going to be on the receiving end of some good results.”
