SEATTLE – The Seattle Sounders punched their playoff ticket and finished the night in 5th place in the West with a 1-0 win over the Houston Dynamo. A 22nd minute goal from Paul Rothrock proved enough to secure the result, and provided a fun bit of trivia as Rothrock has now scored in all three career appearances against the Dynamo.
The Sounders created the better scoring chances throughout the first half. Houston put on some pressure during the opening 10 minutes, during which time they took four shots – all of them from inside the area. But from there the momentum shifted as Pedro de la Vega had a good look in the 10th minute and then Rothrock scored the game’s lone goal in the 22nd minute. Good team pressure forced Houston into an attempt to play out of their own half that went out for a Sounders throw-in, and Seattle quickly got the ball to Albert Rusnák who drove into traffic in the box. Rusnák lost possession but as the ball bounced around Rothrock ran onto it from outside the area and smashed his shot through traffic and into the far side netting.
Seattle kept pushing and nearly had a second in the 30th minute. Nouhou played an excellent ball over the top for Rothrock who hit a cross back across goal for Jordan Morris who slid in to make contact but his shot hit the outside of the post and went out for a corner. In the 34th minute de la Vega had another good look, this time running onto a chipped ball into the area from Rusnák before hitting a shot that was cleared off the goal line by a defender.
Morris had another look in the second half, getting a head to the ball after Cristian Roldan fought through a challenge at the edge of the box before sending in his cross, but his header went wide. That was the extent of Seattle’s shots registered in the second half as Houston piled on possession looking for a way back into the game. Despite pushing to nearly 70% possession, though, Houston only managed two pretty speculative shots from outside the area.
The win serves as a bit of catharsis after giving up a late goal to drop two points against the San Jose Eathquakes on their last time out. Seattle now continue on from this game with three meetings with playoff teams as they go on the road to face the Vancouver Whitecaps and Colorado Rapids, then finish the regular season with a home game against the Portland Timbers. It all starts on Wednesday at BC Place against the Vancouver Whitecaps with the Cascadia Cup still up for grabs.
Key moments
10 - Pedro de la Vega hammers a shot from a decent spot but his effort is blocked and the ball eventually goes out for Seattle's first corner of the game.
22 - GOAL! Paul Rothrock opens the scoring, smashing a loose ball through traffic low and into the far side netting! 1-0 Sounders
26 - The Sounders give up a well-placed free kick after a handball, but Amine Bassi’s effort is over the bar.
30 - SHOT! Nouhou plays Rothrock in behind with a ball over the top and Rothrock sends in a great cross that finds Jordan Morris sliding in on the far side, but his shot hits the outside of the post and goes out for a goal kick.
34 - CHANCE! De la Vega gets a great feed from Albert Rusnák and hits a dangerous shot from close range that’s blocked on the goal line by a defender.
53 - Header! Cristain Roldan fights through a challenge and sends in a cross. Jordan Morris jumps and gets his head to it, but can’t direct the ball on frame.
Quick thoughts
Favored Enemy: Rothrock’s opening goal was his fifth career MLS goal and his third against the Dynamo. His MLS career is still young, and these things are always bound to change, but with 28 league appearances under his belt he’s got five MLS goals and 60% of them have come against Houston. He’s actually scored every time he’s played against Houston. It’s probably just a funny little coincidence, or maybe he’s got something against the color orange, but at least for the time being Rothrock seems to be circling every meeting with the Dynamo on his calendar.
Back where he belongs: Cristian Roldan has played just about everywhere during his time in Seattle. That versatility has been an obvious asset for the club, and has ensured that he always has a place in the team, but in recent weeks he’s moved back to central midfield where he started his professional career and that move has come with some of his best play this season. Against the Dynamo he went 40 for 50 passing, 1 for 2 on both dribbles and crosses, 5 for 9 on long balls and had 10 passes into the final third. He paired that with 8 recoveries while going 4 for 5 on duels. He’s flourishing in central midfield, and the guys alongside him are finding the kind of success they’ve only seemed to reach when playing with João Paulo.
Another shutout: Although there were some nervy moments playing out of the back early in the game, the back line rarely put a foot wrong as Stefan Frei was only forced to make one save along the way to his 114th career MLS shutout. The whole team put in an effort, but ultimately the bulk of the work and attention falls on the defense when it comes to clean sheets. Houston only got a total of three shots after the opening 10 minutes, and none of those came from threatening areas. Even as the Dynamo pushed their possession into Seattle’s final third, they still couldn’t create any real danger as the Sounders defense gave them little room to do much more than pass the ball.
Notable quote
Brian Schmetzer on seeing the game out: “I think the guys concentrated for that 93 minutes of the game… you can’t take one play off. Against San Jose we took one play off and it wasn’t good timing.”
Player spotlight
Albert Rusnák – Although he won’t end up on the score sheet, Rusnák was involved in most of Seattle’s most dangerous moments. His dribble created the opportunity that resulted in Rothrock’s goal, and his pass set up de la Vega’s cleared shot.
