A little Loony: Sounders score gutsy win over Minnesota

The Seattle Sounders got the exact kind of performance they needed in their return to league play, beating Minnesota United 3-2 on Saturday. Albert Rusnák provided the game-winning goal and also had an assist, while Jordan Morris and Jackson Ragen each added goals.

The Sounders jumped out to the lead three separate times, opening the scoring in the 11th minute when Obed Vargas found Morris running behind the defense. Morris calmly put his shot past Dayne St. Clair for the early lead.

At that point, it looked like the Sounders might actually cruise to victory as their counter-press was giving Minnesota all sorts of problems.

But a seemingly innocuous throw into the box led to VAR suggesting a penalty after replays showed Yeimar Gomez Andrade kicking Minnesota’s newly signed Designated Player Kelvin Yeboah, who would then convert the spot kick.

Undeterred, the Sounders came right back and took the lead again. Like the first goal, the counter-press made this one possible. After a turnover, Rusnák found Ragen at the back post with a perfectly placed cross. Ragen rose over his defender and headed it in for his third goal of the season.

The Sounders’ control of the match ended at the half, though. Minnesota seemed to figure out how to play through the Sounders’ press and dominated both possession and chances for the first 10 minutes of the second half, culminating with Yeboah’s second goal. This time, Wil Trapp played him in behind and he cleverly chipped Stefan Frei.

It wasn’t an immediate response, but the Sounders did get back into the game shortly thereafter and got a massive shot in the arm when Rusnák rifled in a shot from about 24 yards out.

The Sounders nearly put the game away a couple minutes later when Pedro de la Vega played a beautiful ball over the top to Morris, who raced past his defenders for what looked to be a great chance. But Morris had trouble getting the ball out of his feet and his left-footed shot struck St. Clair in the side. De la Vega pounced on the rebound and seemed to have an open look on goal, but St. Clair recovered to make the save.

Key moments

5’ – Albert Rusnák gets a good look from around the penalty spot off a Jordan Morris cross but the shot is blocked out for a corner.

11’ – GOAL! Jordan Morris scores his 10th goal of the MLS season and his 80th career goal across all competitions, finishing off a perfect pass from Obed Vargas that played him in. Albert Rusnák had intercepted a pass at midfield to start the sequence. 0-1.

24’ – Goal. After VAR awarded a penalty on a Yeimar Gomez Andrade foul, Kelvin Yeboah converted from the spot to make it 1-1.

28’ – GOAL! Jackson Ragen rises above the defense to head in an Albert Rusnák cross. 1-2, Sounders.

50’ – Minnesota are able to sustain some pressure but the Sounders come up with several blocked shots and ultimately clear the danger after a shot goes wide.

51’ – Yeboah gets a good look after a throw-in takes a nice bounce in the box but he shoots high.

53’ – Paul Rothrock gets a good look near the edge of the penalty area off a nice lay-off pass from Jordan Morris but the shot is blocked.

56’ – Goal. Yeboah is allowed to get behind the defense and hits a nice chip to beat Frei. 2-2.

74’ – Josh Atencio makes a strong run into the box and slides it through but it’s cleared away.

75’ – GOAL! Albert Rusnák puts his laces through a shot from about 24 yards out, beating Dayne St. Clair to the near post. 2-3.

79’ – Pedro de la Vega plays a beautifully shaped ball to put Jordan Morris behind the defense, but Dayne St. Clair makes a nice save. De la Vega picks up the rebound, gets St. Clair to commit but his shot is still saved.

Talking points

Jordan Morris keeps making a case: In the lead-up to this game, Morris apparently told Brian Schmetzer that one of his goals is to become more of a complete target forward. Yes, that means scoring. But it also means things like bringing teammates into the game with hold-up play, providing an effective outlet and doing some of the dirty work. Well, he got his goal but he did a lot of the other stuff, too. His runs were a big reason that Minnesota were never able to get comfortable and he easily could have been involved in another goal or two.

Pedro de la Vega looked really sharp: I won’t get ahead of myself or anything, but this may have been the most encouraging performance by de la Vega to date. He came into the match just as it seemed to be slipping away from the Sounders and almost immediately helped turn it around. He did a great job of keeping possession when needed, pressuring the ball and looking for chances to break. The highlight was his pass to Morris and it’s a shame that it didn't result in a goal, either through Morris or when he followed up with a good look off the rebound. If this is a sign of things to come, the Sounders are in good shape.

Avoiding the trap: I often joke that “every match in MLS is a potential trap game” but this one seemed to have some real potential as it was sandwiched between knockout matches against LAFC. Instead, the Sounders started strong, never lost their focus and saw it out despite facing some real challenges. It remains to be seen if the Sounders can finally get over the hump against LAFC, but this result goes a long way toward ensuring that they’ll at least be in solid position for the playoff chase no matter what happens in the U.S. Open Cup.

Quote of the day

“They came back after an emotional loss, put three goals in on the road, which is very challenging … to find the third goal is very impressive. They wanted to make a statement. They’re feeling it.” - Brian Schmetzer

Player spotlight

Albert Rusnák – The Sounders Designated Player had a performance very fitting of his label, picking up an assist on a perfectly placed cross and scoring the game-winning goal on a beautiful shot just as the match seemed to be slipping away. Rusnák only had 3 shots but made the most of them. In addition to his goal and assist, he went 19-for-21 passing and had the defensive intervention that led to the opening goal.