The Seattle Sounders left Sporting Park with a point on the road following a 1-1 tie vs. Sporting Kansas City on Saturday afternoon. Paul Rothrock scored for the Sounders side while Dejan Joveljic tallied for the hosts.
The Sounders were on the front foot early when Jordan Morris flicked the ball toward Rothrock, who was wide open near the left side of the eighteen-yard box in the second minute of the match. From there, the midfielder played a precise ball across the face of the goal and into the far post of the net to give the Sounders the opening lead.
Jesus Ferreira nearly got on the scoresheet in the 13th minute when a passing combination between Morris, Danny Musovski and Ferreira put the forward in position to take a shot from the top of the box, but the attempt hit the cross bar and landed in the hands of SKC goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland.
Kansas City leveled the score quickly when, in the 18th minute, Cristian Roldan’s pass back to Andrew Thomas was intercepted by Joveljic. 1-v-1 with the Sounders keeper, the Serbian striker struck the ball one-time toward the left corner of the goal to find the equalizer.
Roldan was inches away from giving the Sounders their second lead of the day when Ferreira’s corner kick found him wide open near the back post in the 29th minute, but his redirected header bounced over the net and out for a goal kick.
Nouhou found Morris’ head inside the box to close out the half with a potential opportunity, with the attempt falling straight into the hands of Cleveland.
Three minutes into the second half, Kalani Kossa-Rienzi found Morris on a slip pass, setting him up to finish first-time. As the ball guided toward the back post, however, Cleveland got just enough on it to push it wide.
Similar to the first half, Roldan had an opportunity to earn a set piece goal in the 53rd minute with a back-post header, but it went high of the goal.
A quick transition in the 65th minute led to Joveljic finding SKC winger Capita with a pass into the box, where Thomas timed it perfectly to block the shot.
Five minutes later, on the other side of the pitch, a mis-clearance from SKC dropped to Kossa-Rienzi’s chest, and his ensuing volley was parried by Cleveland.
The Sounders put the pressure on in the final 10 minutes, including Ferreira’s 81st-minute curling effort toward the top corner that Cleveland pushed away. The visitors, however, were unable to find a second goal, settling for a draw.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Unbeaten streak
With the Sounders' draw against Sporting Kansas City, the team has gone eight MLS regular season matches unbeaten.
Ferreira on fire
Ferreira was dominant in and around the box on Saturday, creating the most chances with 6 passes into the final third and attempting a total of 5 shots.
Back at home
Following the Sounders' travels to the Midwest this weekend, the team returns to Lumen Field for a three-match home stretch, beginning on May 9 vs. San Diego FC (7:30 p.m. PT; Watch on Apple TV, 93.3 KJR FM, El Rey 1360AM).
