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Writer's pictureGyoza Galeano

Midseason Must-Win: An Important 3 Points



Don't look too closely at the MLS standings, but for the moment the Seattle Sounders remain top of the Western Conference after securing a gritty, difficult and almost pyrrhic 1-0 victory over the Red Bull Soda Machine of New York. Seeing out the latter stages of the game with 10 men after Joao Paolo was sent off with the softest possible second yellow, Schmetzer chose to play all of his defenders to see out the win. It made me nervous but it worked to secure an important three points.


Jordan Morris was the goalscorer after a sumptuous cross from Leo Chu, who really deserved a hat trick of assists on the night but for a lack of clinical finishing. Unfortunately, Morris did not even have the chance to celebrate his goal after sustaining a groin injury on the play. Postgame comments suggest it's not too serious but he is likely to miss Wednesday night's game


On the night, Leo Chu and Cody Baker were Seattle's best players and it's exciting to see these young players excelling. Baker in particular has looked confident both in possession and defense and is giving Schmetzer the best kind of selection headache as Nouhou works his way back to full fitness.


Overall the defense looked solid as usual, limiting RBNY's chances to mostly dead ball situations. The one chance that got past Yeimar and Regan was impressively saved by Frei who didn't have a ton to do overall but stepped up big with a couple strong saves when called upon. Calling it now, I want to see Regan pushing for a USMNT spot at the next World Cup.


Overall the team's shape, while occasionally quite narrow, was much improved from last week and as a result passes were crisper and overall the team looked more confident. In many ways this was a must win game for the Sounders to win at home in order to stop the slide of poor form. Even though they weren't at their best, they were able to create a lot more chances, especially through Chu and the overlapping runs of Alex Roldan. Had Morris stayed on the field for the full 90 it seems likely he would have scored at least one more.


Heber was well off the pace and visibly frustrated as the night progressed and chances scorned. It was also noticeable that while Morris was on the field and nominally a right winger, he was taking up positions centrally and higher up the pitch that Heber who was not particulary effective as a 9 or a false 9. Just play Morris at center-


forward already!


Finally Dylan Tevez had a strong, hardworking performance that he can build on. There is clearly a smart, tenacious player there and I would love to see him hit the gym and get stronger because when he stops getting physically bullied by defenders he has a ton of potential. The Sounders are blessed with a strong academy and to me, watching young talent learn and grow is very fun and exciting to watch.


Let's hope this win can kickstart a solid run as the Sounder go into a challenging few weeks against some strong teams.





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