SEATTLE — Through their resurgence over the past few months, the biggest knock against the Seattle Sounders is that they’ve not really beaten any top teams.
Coming into Thursday’s Leagues Cup game against the Western Conference-leading LA Galaxy, the Sounders had not beaten a single team that was currently ahead of them in the regular-season standings. Just three of their wins had come against teams currently in a playoff spot.
With their 3-1 win over the Galaxy, in which they out shot their opponents 21-8 and forced goalkeeper John McCarthy into eight saves, the Sounders can at least put that narrative to bed. The Sounders scored two early goals, were up 3-0 by halftime and were even a bit unlucky not to grab at least one more goal in the second half, while largely limiting the highest-scoring offense in the Western Conference to a season-low eight shots.
Asked what he felt the takeaway from the match should be, Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer responded: “That we have a good team… this team can play with the best in our division.”
In many ways, this was exactly the kind of performance the Sounders needed.
The Galaxy came into this match having gone 9-2-1 with 23 goals scored in their previous 12 matches across all competitions. Their most recent game in Leagues Cup was a 2-2 tie with Liga MX giants Chivas, in which they emerged victorious in a penalty shootout and were a stoppage-time strike away from claiming all three points. Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney pulled no punches with his starting lineup against Seattle, rolling out the best squad he had at his disposal.
The only thing that kept the Galaxy from having a truly full-strength lineup was the absence of striker Dejan Jolveljic, who is currently out with an injury. But he was replaced by Joseph Paintsil, one of the league’s top attacking players this year. Paintsil was surrounded by equally impressive talents like Gabriel Pec, Riqui Puig and Diego Fagundez. The attacking quartet has combined for 52 goals and assists in MLS play alone.
Yet, the Sounders kept them off the scoreboard until the 83rd minute, when Puig set up Pec for a slick finish inside the box.
On the other side, the Sounders deserve credit for finishing their early chances. Albert Rusnák set up the first two goals with near perfect deliveries on corner kicks and Alex Roldan hit one of the best strikes you’ll ever see. The Sounders also did an admirable job of continuing to apply pressure. Jordan Morris looked particularly dangerous and was only kept off the scoresheet by some quality saves and last-minute defensive interventions.
Still, if there was a reason this performance felt just a little underwhelming, I think it’s that for all the danger the Sounders created in the second half they didn’t actually add a fourth goal. It was a frustration we’ve felt far too often this year.
The Sounders showed they can play with top teams. Especially with how the bracket is shaping up, it’s not remotely impossible to imagine them making a deep run in this tournament. But more tests await. Pumas is next and will surely be looking for a measure of revenge. Beyond them, there’s another potential match with LAFC and then most likely Club America in the semifinals. If the Sounders really want to put to rest the idea they can’t beat big teams, they’ll have plenty of opportunities in the next few weeks.
