Ring the Bell: Sounders win fifth straight behind backup CB

SEATTLE – The Seattle Sounders beat St. Louis City 2-0 on Wednesday, their fifth straight win in league play, their sixth straight win in all competitions and running their unbeaten streak to eight games. In the process, they moved up to sixth in the Western Conference standings, but just as importantly they're now only one point out of fourth.

The Sounders got off to a good start when Alex Roldan whipped in a cross that Tim Parker put in the back of the net for an own-goal to give the Sounders a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute. Almost impossibly, it marked the fourth straight time St. Louis has scored an own-goal against the Sounders. Only 19 teams in MLS history have scored an own-goal against the same opponent in consecutive games and no other team has down it in three straight, let alone four.

That goal aside, though, the Sounders struggled to really take control of the match until Jon Bell’s goal in the 49th minute. Bell’s goal came off a header from a perfectly placed Albert Rusnák free kick.

Although the Sounders weren’t able to find an insurance goal, they pretty well dominated the match from there. Raúl Ruidíaz and Jordan Morris each had particularly good chances to put the game away, but Roman Bürki came up with saves on each opportunity to keep St. Louis plausibly alive.

In the end, the Sounders were well-deserved winners and for good measure Stefan Frei picked up his 112th career shutout to tie Kevin Hartman for second on the all-time MLS list. It was also his seventh shutout of the season, tied for third most in MLS.

The Sounders can now turn their attention to Saturday when they’ll host LAFC in the final game before Leagues Cup. A win could push them as high as fourth in the West and would pull them within four points of LAFC.

Key moments

5' – Jackson Ragen skies over the defense to head down an Albert Rusnák free kick, but it’s cleared off the line.

11' – Hosel Kijima gets St. Louis’ first real look when a ball takes a weird bounce to put him in. Although he gets off a good shot, Stefan Frei is able to make himself big and save it off his shoulder.

27' – Goal! Alex Roldan plays in a dangerous cross toward Jordan Morris, but Tim Parker plays it into his own net. It’s the fourth straight game against the Sounders in which St. Louis has scored an own-goal. 1-0, Sounders.

45+2’ – Jackson Ragen clears a header from Parker off the line after a scramble off a corner kick.

49’ – GOAL! Jon Bell rises high to head in a perfectly placed Albert Rusnák free kick. 2-0, Sounders.

73’ – Roman Bürki makes an impressive double-save on Raúl Ruidíaz, who got two decent looks after Reed Baker-Whiting broke pressure and then put Jordan Morris into space. He then set up Ruidíaz for a good look in front of goal. Bürki made the initial 1v1 save and then recovered to stop Ruidíaz on the rebound.

80’ – Rusnák plays Morris into space and although he has Rothrock streaking in on goal to his left, he chooses to shoot and Bürki is able to make the save.

Quick thoughts

Finding ways to win: Throughout their early-season struggles, it was almost as if the Sounders were finding ways to drop points. Now, it’s the exact opposite. While the full-game stats paint a fairly dominant picture – the Sounders finished with 69% possession and won the xG battle 1.75-.45 – until Bell’s goal it was actually pretty tight. If not for Frei and some timely defensive interventions, it could have been a very different game. But the Sounders made plays when they had to, which is becoming a hallmark over the last couple of months.

Stefan Frei stands tall: If there is a player who best represents the Sounders’ turnaround, it might be Frei. Early in the season, he was one of the biggest culprits among players who weren’t making plays we had grown used to them making. But he’s been absolutely stellar lately, especially during the Sounders seven-game league unbeaten run. In those matches, he’s allowed just five goals while keeping four clean sheets. His distribution has also been markedly improved and he completed 33 of 40 passes in this game, the fifth time in his last seven where he completed at least 75% of his passes. In his first 13 games, he completed 75% just four times.

Jon Bell comes through: Probably the least talked about move of the Sounders’ offseason was picking up Jon Bell in the Re-Entry Draft. It’s proving to be one of their best. Bell hasn’t played a ton, but he has looked good in just about every appearance. This time, he barely put a foot wrong against his former team, who happened to only give him three appearances all of last year. Bell was 88 of 96 passing, made two interceptions and won 5 of 7 duels. There’s not a clear path to starter’s minutes at what is a pretty stacked centerback group, but he is making it very easy for Brian Schmetzer to give someone else a day off like he did with Yeimar in this one.

Notable quote

“This is a massive win because it sets us up for Saturday [against LAFC]. Everyone needs to show out on Saturday. The team is playing well, I hope to see all my friends there.” - Brian Schmetzer

Player spotlight

Albert Rusnák – Once again, it was Rusnák pulling the strings and delivering when the Sounders needed it most. Not only did he pick up the assist on Bell’s goal with another perfectly placed free kick, but he put should have had an assist on Morris’ goal and had two other chance creations. Despite a slow start, he’s now among the Top 20 in the league in terms of total chances created.