The Seattle Sounders took a humbling 3-0 loss to LAFC on Saturday, falling behind early and struggling to really gain control of the match. The Sounders had a flurry of chances in stoppage time that boosted their expected goals but still couldn’t find the back of the net.
Highlights
Stats
Seattle Sounders FC: 0 (2.51 xG)
— MLS Statistics and Analysis 📊⚽️ (@mlsstat) July 21, 2024
vs
Los Angeles FC: 3 (1.82 xG)#SEAvLAFC | #Sounders | #LAFC | #MLS pic.twitter.com/GJQogDWxtA
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 0 – Los Angeles FC 3
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Venue: Lumen Field
Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistants: Andrew Bigelow, Diego Blas
Fourth Official: Elijio Arreguin
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
Attendance: 32,905
Weather: 80 degrees and sunny
SCORING SUMMARY
LAFC – Denis Bouanga 16’
LAFC – Mateusz Bogusz 26’
LAFC – Denis Bouanga (Kei Kamara) 74’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SEA – Nouhou (caution) 14’
SEA – João Paulo (caution) 45’ + 9’
SEA – Paul Rothrock (caution) 55’
LAFC – Mateusz Bogusz (caution) 62’
LAFC – Jesús Murillo (caution) 85’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei – Captain; Reed Baker-Whiting, Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Jackson Ragen, Nouhou (Raúl Ruidíaz 56’); Obed Vargas, João Paulo (Alex Roldan 56’); Cristian Roldan (Danny Musovski 73’), Albert Rusnák, Pedro de la Vega (Paul Rothrock 46’); Jordan Morris
Substitutes not used: Andrew Thomas, Cody Baker, Jonathan Bell, Danny Leyva, Léo Chú
Total shots: 20
Shots on goal: 5
Fouls: 10
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 6
Saves: 1
LAFC – Hugo Lloris; Omar Campos (Ryan Hollingshead 78’), Aaron Long (Eddie Segura 70’), Maxime Chanot, Jesús Murillo, Sergi Palencia; Eduard Atuesta, Ilie Sánchez (Erik Dueñas 86’), Mateusz Bogusz (David Martínez 77’); Denis Bouanga, Nathan Ordaz (Kei Kamara 69’)
Substitutes not used: Abraham Romero, Thomas Musto, Tomás Ángel
Total shots: 7
Shots on goal: 4
Fouls: 12
Offside: 2
Corner-kicks: 2
Saves: 4
Quotes
On the difficulty on trying to regain control after LAFC’s first two goals:
“I think we came out in the second half pretty good. But we couldn’t score. So, some people would say maybe it’s not your night, goalkeeper came up with some good saves, referee didn’t give us any penalties. There’s a lot of excuses in there, there’s no excuse, [LAFC] was better than us tonight. So, down two goals, we shouldn’t have been down two goals. First goal, that was not the referee’s fault, penalty. Whether it’s a penalty or not, the play happened way up there, in the middle of the field when we were pressing… That first goal was just shooting ourselves in the foot like we did earlier in the year. That’s on us. That’s more on me. The team just obviously wasn’t set up right. We’re trying to get fresh legs out there, but didn’t work. So, first goal, second goal, [Mateusz] Bogusz, hits a wonder strike. But I know [Stefan Frei] wants that back… Stef Frei doesn’t make many mistakes. We had a couple half chances from the top of the box, a volley by [João Paulo], couple of other chances from the top of the box. Our guys couldn’t hit the net from the top of the box, but their guy did, Bogusz did tonight. That’s probably a Goal of the Week candidate. At two-nothing it’s credit to them, we’ve got to do better.”
On the attitude of the team after the match:
“The scoreline for us isn’t indicative of where we see ourselves when we look at teams like LAFC, when we face teams like LAFC. And so that’s the frustrating part even this game in particular we didn’t feel like the gap was that big. They were really good in front of goal, they took their chances well. It’s kind of been the story of our season in terms of not being able to finish those opportunities or be opportunistic and as of late we’ve been kind of opportunistic. You have these types of games, you learn from them, and you move on. We were on a good spell, and we were really confident going into this game. The timing of the goals really screwed us up, screwed up the game, deflated us. And then we’re chasing.”
On how the two early goals affected the game:
“I think it’s worst case. They switched to a five back. They were already bunkering in so once they scored one and then two and then they really just bunker in and then it’s just tough to break them down. That was really their game plan from the beginning is to sit back and defend as best as they can and then just counter. It just played even more into their hands.”
