After five straight regular season matches on the road, the Seattle Sounders returned home to Lumen Field on Saturday with a 4-1 win over St. Louis CITY SC. Cristian Roldan (2), Albert Rusnák and Osaze De Rosario scored for the home side, while Edward Löwen scored a late goal for the visitors.
St. Louis enjoyed a bright start to the match, with Marcel Hartel forcing Andrew Thomas into a quick diving save in just the 2nd minute. Seattle continued to soak up pressure for the first 20 minutes, adopting a bend-don’t-break approach.
The tide started to turn in the 21st minute when Snyder Brunell found a pocket of space in midfield and unleashed a swerving shot from 25-yards out that forced Roman Bürki into a diving save.
Seattle found the opening goal from the ensuing corner kick, as Rusnák curled the ball toward the far post for Cristian Roldan to head home for the 1-0 lead.
Spurred on by the shift in momentum, the Rave Green started to throw more players into the attack, stringing together some intricate spells of possession. Brunell fired another warning shot in the 35th minute as his long-range effort kept Bürki rooted to the spot, but flashed just wide of the far post.
One minute later, the Sounders doubled their advantage from a nearly identical play. Rusnák once again played an inch-perfect corner kick to the far post, where Cristian Roldan volleyed it past Bürki to make it 2-0.
The Sounders picked up where they left off in the second half as Paul Rothrock earned a penalty kick in the 48th minute. Rusnák stepped up and confidently dispatched the ensuing spot kick, sending Bürki the wrong way and rolling his shot into the bottom corner for a 3-0 lead.
Seattle added a fourth in the 86th minute as Jesús Ferreira played a clever pass into the box for De Rosario, who weaved past four defenders before wrong-footing Bürki with a shot to the far post.
St. Louis pulled one back in second half in stoppage time as a blocked shot fell right into the path of Eduard Löwen, who volleyed it into the top corner.
Three Takeaways
Statement Win
Seattle entered Saturday night’s match on the back of a bitterly disappointing exit from Concacaf Champions Cup. The Sounders defeated Liga MX giants Tigres UANL 3-1 at Lumen Field on Wednesday night and tied the series 3-3 on aggregate but lost on the away goals tiebreaker. After a quick turnaround, the team displayed their mental toughness by responding with a comprehensive 4-1 win over St. Louis, blending the defensive grit they honed during their road stretch with an explosive attack.
Captain Cristian
Cristian Roldan put on a midfield masterclass under the lights at Lumen Field. In addition to his two goals, he started the sequence that led to Rusnák’s penalty goal. Playing his 403rd match for the Rave Green across all competitions, he put in a monster defensive performance with eight recoveries, seven clearances, two interceptions and a tackle. He even played the last 30 minutes at center back after Peter Kingston came on for his brother, Alex.
Development Pipeline
On a pitch filled with established MLS stars, two of the unsung heroes of the match were a pair of recent Tacoma Defiance graduates: Antino Lopez and Snyder Brunell. Playing alongside Alex Roldan at center back, Lopez put in a composed, professional performance beyond his years, posting five recoveries, three interceptions and three clearances, all while completing 96 percent of his 55 pass attempts.
At the other end of the pitch, Brunell once again displayed why he’s one of the most exciting midfield talents in MLS. The young Homegrown Player was impressive on Saturday night, taking up clever spots between the lines and carving up St. Louis with the ball at his feet.
