SEATTLE – The Seattle Sounders closed out the regular season with a 2–1 win against LAFC at Lumen Field on Saturday that secured at least another game to their season as they clinched 8th place and the chance to host 9th-place Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference play-in game. First-half goals from Albert Rusnák (1’) and Sebastian Gomez (31’) earned the win, while a goal from Eddie Segura (82’) for LAFC made it a tense finish.
After giving up a goal in the 1st minute to the Vancouver Whitecaps and plenty of talk during the intervening week about starting the game with intensity, it was the Sounders who scored in the opening minute this time. Cristian Roldan jumped out from behind Mathieu Choiniere as LAFC tried to build out of the back, picked his pocket and drove to the end line before cutting the ball back to the edge of the 6-yard box where Rusnák finished first time to take the early lead.
Following the goal, both sides exchanged dangerous looks with Andrew Thomas making a pair of big saves in the 3rd minute, first denying what would have been a true wonder goal from Denis Bouanga then pushing a shot from Armindo Sieb off of a recycled corner over the bar. Rusnák had a dangerous look from a 9th minute free kick that went just wide, and Jordan Morris set up what looked like a dangerous opportunity when he beat Segura and sent a cross in for Dejan Joveljić who ended up having to drift away from goal to get to it. Joveljić’s header was easily dealt with by LAFC goalkeeper Cabral Carter, and Morris went down after the play with what proved to be a quadriceps injury and had to be replaced by Jesus Ferreira.
After some battling and yet another good save from Thomas, Seattle got what ended up being the winner from Gomez. Ferreira carried the bal down the right wing before laying it off to Kalani Kossa-Rienzi who sent a driven ball into the box that Gomez settles cleverly for Rusnák. Gomez kept moving into a pocket of space and Rusnák played a simple pass to him to set up a deflected shot that beat the GK to give the 20-year-old his 4th goal of the season.
The second half was much more desperate for the Sounders as they struggled to get any real control over the match. Seattle ended up being out-shot 13-0 in the second half as LAFC stacked up 28 touches inside the area to their 1. The Sounders defense was able to do enough to hold on for all three points, despite conceding on a well-executed set piece in the 82nd minute that Segura ultimately headed home. At the heart of that defensive effort was Andrew Thomas who made 4 saves in the second half. In front of him Jackson Ragen and Kim Kee-hee were a somewhat surprising combination, and while they certainly weren’t perfect they also made for a solid pairing at CB as they hugely limited Son Heung-Min’s influence and kept Denis Bouanga from being a game changer despite repeatedly getting the best of Kossa-Rienzi out wide.
Seattle will now prepare for their play-in round game against RSL, which the Sounders will host on Thursday, Nov. 19.
Lineups
The Sounders make three changes to the lineup that started against the Whitecaps last weekend with Sebastian Gomez starting on the left wing and Jordan Morris on the right with Jesus Ferreira on the bench. Hassani Dotson returns to the double-pivot next to Cristian Roldan, and Kim Kee-hee starts at centerback alongside Jackson Ragen as Alex Roldan is unavailable.
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Key moments
1' - GOAL! Roldan takes the ball off of Choiniere at the edge of the box, gets to the end line and finds Rusnák for the finish to flip the script from last week! 1-0, Sounders
AN ELECTRIC START FROM THE SQUAD 💥
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3’ - SAVE! Bouanga tries an audacious shot from outside the area and Thomas leaps up to put it over the bar!
3’ - SAVE! Thomas comes up big again to deny Sieb off of a corner.
9’ - Chance! Rusnák has a go from 25 yards out on a free kick that appears to take a touch off of Bouanga as it goes wide of goal, but a goal kick is awarded.
18’ - Shot! Bouanga slices his way into the box from the left wing and gets a shot off but puts it just wide!
21’ - Chance! Morris beats Segura and gets to the end line, but his cross to Joveljić takes the striker away from goal and his header back in is cleared away. Morris goes down with an injury following the play.
24’ - Sub. Jordan Morris is replaced by Jesus Ferreira for the Sounders after a non-contact injury.
25’ - Save! Thomas comes up with another save, denying Sieb at the near post before he then puts his follow-up shot wide.
31’ - GOAL! Gomez makes it two with a deflected shot to beat Carter! Rusnák plays a simple pass to him inside the box and the young winger does the rest with some help from a big deflection off of Segura! 2-0, Sounders
SEBA GOLAZOOOOOO 🤩
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35’ - High. Choiniere receives a dangerous ball at the top of the box from Bouanga, but sends his shot high and over the bar.
41’ - Shot! After a couple failed attempts Dotson whips a worm burner towards goal and misses just wide.
43’ - Chance. Seattle works a seemingly designed set piece with a short pass to Ferreira and a cross to Dotson, but his flicked header in the area is easily caught.
54’ - Beat. Kossa-Rienzi easily gets beat by Bouanga inside the box, but his shot is saved by Thomas.
55’ - Stop! Son gets into the box and has a great look at goal, but Thomas makes another big save to deny him.
66’ - Catch! Son gets into the box and finds Sieb in a pocket of space, but his shot is hit right at Thomas who catches it.
66’ - Subs. Sebastian Gomez and Albert Rusnák are replaced by Paul Arriola and Snyder Brunell for Seattle.
67’ - Block! Bouanga beats KKR again as the fullback dangles a leg towards the ball, but the shot is blocked out for a corner by Thomas.
72’ - Sub. Jacob Shaffelburg comes on in place of Armindo Sieb for LAFC.
79’ - Sub. Jacob Shaffelburg is replaced by Tyler Boyd for LAFC.
82’ - Goal, LAFC. Walta sends a free kick to the back post where Porteous gets a head to it and puts it in the middle and Segura heads it home. 2-1, Sounders
87’ - Subs. Peter Kingston and Paul Rothrock come on for Dejan Joveljić and Cristian Roldan as Seattle’s last changes.
89’ - Sub. Mathieu Choiniere is replaced by Jeremy Ebobisse for LAFC.
Quick thoughts
Far from perfect: No one is going to suggest that this was a perfect performance from the Sounders, that’s obvious. Even the first half, for all that Seattle went into halftime leading 2-0, was unlikely to have gone how Seattle planned as they conceded more than twice as many shots as they took (11-5) and let LAFC get 17 touches inside the box to their 13. But much of the conversation coming into this game was about playing with intensity and making life difficult for the opponents, and the Sounders did do exactly that. Seattle finished the chances they needed to, and then dominated by every defensive measure. Most notably they made 24 tackles to LAFC’s 7, but they also won the duels battle 51-37 with 43 ground duels won to LA’s 28. Their press created the opening goal, and the full commitment even as they struggled to find their foothold in the second half meant that they rarely gave up easy looks.
Gomez’s growth: Nine months ago as the Sounders were preparing for the start of this season, it would have been hard to imagine that Sebastian Gomez would have been starting and scoring the winning goal to send Seattle to the playoffs on the final day of the season. Even over the last few weeks, the idea of him having that sort of impact from the opening whistle would have been a little surprising as he’d consistently been most effective as a substitute and often struggled to do the same when played as a starter. But such was the case today as his mix of willing defending, desire to go toward goal when he gets the ball, and ability to make things happen in the final third earned him a start and rewarded his team with the win. Beyond his goal, despite just playing 66 minutes he got into more duels (11) than any other Sounders player and only Bouanga got into more (13). His 6 duels won was only 4th best among Sounders, but no LAFC player won more than him. He added 7 defensive contributions with a game-high 5 tackles in a well-rounded performance that was a showcased just how much he’s grown this season.
Old gold: Albert Rusnák certainly wouldn’t appreciate being described as “old” but at 32 he’s firmly on the opposite end of the experience spectrum from Gomez. While he has struggled along with the rest of the squad this season, it’s more than worth noting that his goal and assist tonight give him 5 goals and 16 assists for the season. That tally not only makes him the first Sounders player with three consecutive seasons with 20+ goal contributions, but ties him with Nico Lodeiro — as well as his 2024 total — for the Sounders single-season record of 16 assists. He may not be a DP any longer, but he’s still one of Seattle’s top players, and he’ll almost certainly be at the center of any noise the Sounders make in the playoffs.
Notable quote
Brian Schmetzer on the team’s response following the loss to Vancouver: “It’s a strong group. We’ve had ups and downs ... but the fact of the matter is tonight they did perform, and I thought they did well."
Player spotlight
Andrew Thomas made 7 saves, and according to Fotmob his “goals prevented” was 1.65 having conceded one goal on 2.65 xG to help Seattle secure the win.
