Down, not out: Sounders advance after poor performance

SEATTLE – The Seattle Sounders fell 3-1 at home against Necaxa in their final group stage game of the Leagues Cup. A promising start with an 8th minute Obed Vargas goal was cooled by a series of lengthy reviews and a Pedro de la Vega banger chalked off for an offside call in the lead up to the goal, then completely blown up by goals in the 24th and 44th minute for the visitors. A third goal in the 2nd minute of second half stoppage time provided the dagger.

The first half started with so much promise. Alex Roldan started the play that led to Seattle’s opener with a ball over the top for Cristian Roldan, who then played a pass into a pocket of space for Obed Vargas. Vargas ran onto the ball in the box and hit a first-time shot that beat goalkeeper Ezequiel Unsain to emphatically give the Sounders a 1-0 lead inside of 10 minutes. It seemed like things were only going up from there, as a couple of minutes later Cristian Roldan and Pedro de la Vega nearly combined for a second goal, and in the 11th minute de la Vega seemed to have actually scored to make it 2-0.

De la Vega’s apparent goal came on a lovely play where Albert Rusnák retrieved the ball near the end line and found PdlV along the sideline. De la Vega pulled off a nice play to free himself of his defender and cut inside before hitting a low rocket that went through the box untouched before dinking in off the far post.

But the referee was sent to the monitor to review the play for an infraction in the build-up and it was determined that Vargas had been offside on the initial pass to start the attack, and the goal was waved off.

Then in the 24th minute Necaxa sent a cross from left to right and Reed Baker-Whiting attempted to deal with it but completely whiffed, allowing his man to send the ball back across goal. Alex Roldan was able to head the ball away from goal, but his header fell to Jose Paradela at the top of the box and Paradela played it off to Agustín Palavecino who hit a hard shot that Andrew Thomas couldn’t keep out and the game was tied at 1-1.

Things continued to get worse from there for the Sounders. First in the 34th minute, de la Vega had to come out of the game with a groin injury, then in the 44th minute Necaxa added a second goal. A Sounders corner was cleared out of the box and Necaxa immediately were out on the counter. First RBW wasn’t able to close down Paradela, then Alex Roldan made a hard recovery run but wasn’t able to beat Diber Cambindo to the ball or put him off, and Cambindo’s first-time shot from the top of the box beat Thomas to give Necaxa the 2-1 lead.

The Sounders had a couple of opportunities to get back into the game, but never really troubled Unsain despite introducing Jordan Morris and João Paulo to start the half, and bringing Léo Chú and Nouhou on in the 62nd minute. As they struggled to regain control, Necaxa put the game to bed in the 2nd minute of stoppage time. Once again capitalizing on Seattle’s defensive errors, Kevin Rosero ended up with wide open look and blasted his shot into the top corner. The goal came from Cristian Roldan heading a Necaxa throw in towards the middle of the field where a Necaxa player got the first touch. Obed Vargas poked the ball away, seemingly trying to play it for Nouhou to run out to the sideline but Nouhou didn’t seem to be on the same page, and away went Rosero to make it 3-1.

This was pretty much a worst-case scenario for the Sounders. They advance thanks to an even goal difference, as all three teams in the group finished on three points, but no one really put in an exciting or complete performance, de la Vega picked up yet another injury and João Paulo is being checked out for a possible concussion after taking a ball to the head on what turned out to be the final play of the match. They will now face the LA Galaxy in the Round of 32 back at Lumen Field on Thursday.

Key moments

8 - GOAL! Obed Vargas smashes his shot over the goalkeeper to finish off a nice play by the Roldan brothers to give the Sounders an early lead. 1-0 Sounders

10 - Cristian Roldan nearly adds a second assist in quick succession, once again playing a ball in from the right side but it’s cleared away before de la Vega can make contact.

11 - Pedro de la Vega appeared to have doubled the lead with a great goal, but after video review it’s brought back for offside on the initial pass.

24 - Goal, Necaxa. Several Sounders fail to effectively clear the ball, and a headed clearance from Alex Roldan falls right to a Necaxa player at the top of the box who lays it off for Agustín Palavecino to smoke his shot under Andrew Thomas to level it. 1-1

39 - The Sounders swing the ball around Necaxa’s penalty area, eventually setting up a cross from RBW on the left to Vargas at the penalty spot, but his looping header goes over the goal.

44 - Goal, Necaxa. The Sounders get absolutely shredded on a quick counter after a Seattle corner, as neither RBW or Alex Roldan are able to get back fast enough to break up the Necaxa attack. 2-1 Necaxa

57 - Alex Roldan hits a right-footed shot from the top of the box off of a corner kick, but it curves hard late and goes wide of the goal.

88 - Léo Chú does well to get past his man and to the end line on the right before cutting the ball back for Jordan Morris at the near post, but he has a defender all over him and can’t get a shot off.

90+2 - Goal, Necaxa. Cristian Roldan heads a throw in towards the middle of the field, and Obed Vargas tries to touch it clear but plays it into space for Kevin Rosero to run onto it before blasting it into the top corner. 3-1 Necaxa

Quick thoughts

Frighteningly fragile: It wasn’t long ago that the Sounders seemed to have developed a new mental fortitude that was carrying them to results. They reeled off three come-from-behind results as they started a run of eight games unbeaten in all competitions with a six-game winning streak that was ended by the 3-0 loss at home against LAFC right before the start of Leagues Cup. That game saw the Sounders go behind in the 16th minute after a frustrating penalty, and they never found their way back into the game. The order of events was a little different in this one, but after appearing to have taken a 2-0 lead a lengthy delay and review slowed the Sounders down and Necaxa’s first goal seemed to sap any real chance the Sounders had at coming away victorious. An injury to de la Vega after he had been building back towards being 90 minutes fit, followed by a second goal just before halftime fully broke Seattle. It’s bad luck, but the Sounders didn’t help themselves, and if they want to have anything like a successful season they need to start helping themselves a lot more and stop hurting themselves like this all together.

Losing de la Vega again: We don’t know how long he’ll be out as a result of what’s been described as a groin injury – Brian Schmetzer said during his post-game availability that he’d get an MRI and they’d evaluate the extent of the injury – but he’s now been limited to a total of 301 minutes across all competitions with a single penalty goal to his name. The waved-off goal in this game, and the flashes he’s shown over the last month or so provide a taste of what he can be if he can stay fit and find some form, but the reality is that he hasn’t been on the field enough to do either of those things. It’s not really anyone’s fault, but in an increasingly frustrating season the lack of impact from the team’s newest Designated Player might be the most frustrating thing of all. The good news, if you can call it that, is that the Sounders have just shy of three weeks before MLS play begins, and a few days more before the U.S. Open Cup clash against LAFC.

No cases made: During Schmetzer’s post-game press conference, towards the end he ran down a list of the players who “could have played better,” that included just about everyone who touched the field in a Sounders jersey. Players throughout the squad made simple, unforced errors, failed to make the kinds of runs for their teammates that open up space and provide options, and just generally struggled to have a positive impact. It’s frustrating to see from starters, but perhaps even more disappointing when a player like Reed Baker-Whiting – a depth player who is seen as a potential future star – is given an opportunity to start with a chance to create competition for a spot in the Starting XI and ends up on the wrong end of two goals while also being limited in his ability to get forward. Dannies Leyva and Musovski got similar, rare starts in this one, and while neither is likely to push their way into regular starting spots they both did relatively little to earn increased opportunities during their 45-minute appearances.

Notable quote

Brian Schmetzer on what the team lacked going forward: “We lacked a lot in the final third. The number one thing was the running in behind from different positions… in games like this where your opponent is clever, well set up in their defending, you have to try to unbalance them somehow.”

Player spotlight

Obed Vargas – Vargas’ performance was bookended by a Very Good Moment and a Pretty Bad One, scoring a great goal in the 8th minute and having the touch that directly led to Necaxa’s third goal in the 90+2’. The rest of his performance was solid, going 3/3 on tackles and 4/5 on duels while completing 47 of 55 passes.