The Seattle Sounders defeated Austin FC 1-0 on Saturday night in the capital of Texas. Off the back of Tuesday’s match in Sacramento, tonight’s match against Austin had the potential of being tricky. But the Sounders were able to put together a no-nonsense performance and they get to fly back home to Seattle with all three points.
The first half played out almost exactly how the Sounders wanted. No clear opportunities for Austin and the game was played at Seattle’s pace. Sure, there were a few moments where you would have liked to see the Sounders have more composure in attack, but they were in control of the first half, on short rest, away from home. The most notable moment had to be when Danny Musovski was leading a counterattack in the 33rd minute but just sort of loses the ball under his feet and can’t find a wide open Pedro de la Vega, who was clear through on goal.
The Sounders were able to execute the self alley-oop with their second half performance. Building on the foundation they built in the first half, Seattle came out in the second half and took care of business. Subbing in Albert Rusnák and Jordan Morris, the veterans were able to instantly get into the tempo and take control. Morris’ impact in particular was well felt as his instincts to get in behind caused all sorts of problems for Austin FC broadly and Brendan Hines-Ike specifically. Within half an hour, Morris had a goal and got Hines-Ike sent off.
Key moments
5 - Austin gets their first corner kick of the match but were not able to do anything with it. Resulted in them fouling Leo Chu to prevent the counter.
7 - Gyasi Zardes was played in behind but fires his shot well over the bar.
12 - de la Vega has a 30-yard free kick tipped over the bar by Brad Stuver. Close!
16 - de la Vega was brought down in the box looking for a foul but the referee waved it away. Julio Cascante left his feet to bring down de la Vega, but no call.
24 - Danny Musovski is down for the second time with an apparent head injury. He was brought off the field for a check and because of MLS rules, he had to stay off the field for 2 minutes.
33 - Sounders were on a dangerous counter-attack but Musovski is unable to find any of his streaking teammates, de la Vega the most notably open one.
35 - Yeimar Gomez Andrade received a yellow card for hands to the face. Dangerous free kick for Austin on the edge of the box.
40 - Dangerous moments for Austin where they were able to get in a couple of dangerous crosses but no one was able to finish.
45+2 - Austin ends the half with a couple of chances but nothing came of it.
HT - Rusnak and Morris enter the match for de la Vega and Musovski.
49 - Frei had to make a great save at his near post on a Sebastian Drussi header.
52 - A very ambitious volley from Alex Roldan flew into the stands. Goal of the year candidate if he had connected on that. 45 seconds later, Paul Rothrock follows this up with a cut back shot.
58 - Brendan Hines-Ike received a yellow card for bringing down Morris on the break.
61 - Chu with a huge miss. The Sounders had a clear break on goal, Rusnak plays Chu in perfectly, and Chu just shot it right at Stuver.
63 - MORRIS GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!! Vargas with the beautiful dribble, Rothrock with the soft layoff, and Morris with the nice finish. Left-footed as well.
JMO IS ON FIRE 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/EvCaXiOiR7
— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) July 14, 2024
66 - Reed Baker-Whiting on for Chu.
77 - Hines-Ike is sent off for his second yellow.
79 - the subsequent free kick from the previous foul was NAILED off the crossbar by Rusnak. Nearly a beautiful moment for the hot player.
90 - Diego Rubio is brought down in the box by Ragen and the referee waved it off. Not a penalty! The ensuing corner is nearly scored by Austin, but it goes just wide.
Quick thoughts
Jordan Morris this, Jordan Morris that: One of the hottest players in MLS right now didn’t even need to start the game to make his impact. Morris was a menace after coming on at halftime. Within 32 minutes of gameplay, he drew two yellow cards on Hines-Ike and scored a goal. Beyond that, he was just a constant threat.
Schmetzer masterclass in management: The Sounders head coach decided to go to the well again with his starting lineup instead of making wholesale changes, even with a jampacked schedule. Seattle only made three changes from their last MLS game, and the lineup that started the second half would probably be considered their first-choice XI of everyone who is fit. Beyond just the selections, you have to think Brian Schmetzer is the happiest person in the world with the performance his team put in tonight.
Vargas’ victory: The unsung hero of the match tonight was Obed Vargas. He’ll show up on the stat sheet with a secondary-assist on the goal, but his presence was felt much more throughout the match. He was crisp and decisive on the ball, won his duels, and largely controlled the game from midfield against Austin. A real man of the match performance from the young kid.
Notable quote
Schmetzer on team’s form: “the ball just seems to be bouncing our way. Maybe earlier in the year, they call a penalty. Maybe that corner sneaks in. Jimmy Gabriel used to say ‘your luck tends to even out’ and at the beginning of year we had a ton of bad luck. It’s evening out.”
— Jeremiah Oshan (@JeremiahOshan) July 14, 2024
Player spotlight
Stefan Frei - This match doesn’t end this way without Frei’s 111th career shutout, just one behind Kevin Hartman for second all-time. He made crucial saves throughout the game to keep it even, and more importantly kept it 1-0 when Austin threw the kitchen sick at the goal in stoppage time.
