The Seattle Sounders conceded second-half goals to Maxi Moralez, Jesús Medina and Ebenezer Ofori, eventually falling 3-0 in their road matchup with New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.
After a scoreless first half, the hosts struck first in the 58th minute when some nifty combination play in the box ended with a shot from Moralez that took a deflection before sailing past Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei and into the net, staking NYCFC to the 1-0 lead.
That advantage would be doubled 19 minutes later after Medina finished off a lightning-quick counterattack with a simple tap-in finish off the feed from Valentín Castellanos, before Ofori added an 87th-minute insurance tally to seal off the 3-0 final score and knock Seattle to 8-5-4 on the season.
THREE TAKEWAYS
SECOND-HALF STRUGGLES
The Sounders were actually looking good to take at least a point from the match through the opening 45 minutes, as the first half was an up-and-down affair that featured chances for both sides. But the wheels came off after Moralez’s deflected goal, as Seattle couldn’t find a leveler before Medina’s lead-doubling tally effectively sealed the result.
AOC IN THE MIX
The match marked the second straight game with a substitute appearance for Homegrown forward Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez, who made his MLS debut in Saturday’s 1-0 home victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps. The 17-year-old has been a beast at the Academy level, winning the Golden Boot for this year’s Generation Adidas Cup-winning U-17 side. With reserve striker Will Bruin out for the season with a torn ACL and starter Raúl Ruidíaz still on international duty with Peru at the 2019 Copa América, there should be some more chances for the youngster to make his mark in the short term.
SQUAD REASSEMBLING
The Sounders have had to rely on their depth a lot lately due to a hefty list of departed internationals, and that remained the case on Wednesday. Slowly but surely, however, those players are starting to trickle back. Xavier Arreaga started this match after coming back from Copa América duty with Ecuador, while midfielders Nicolás Lodeiro (Uruguay), Gustav Svensson (Sweden) and Jordy Delem (Martinique) are also back with the club. Seattle have another short turnaround with a road matchup with Columbus Crew SC on Saturday (4:30 p.m. PT; JOEtv, YouTube TV, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360AM), so Head Coach Brian Schmetzer will hope some of those returnees can provide a shot in the arm as the Sounders look to get back on track.
The Sounders are back in town for a home match against Atlanta United on July 14 (12:55 p.m. PT; ESPN, YouTube TV, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360AM; TICKETS)
