Undone by an aftershock: Sounders tie Earthquakes

The Seattle Sounders settled for a frustrating 2-2 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on Wednesday night. The Earthquakes took the lead in the 16th minute but the Sounders responded with a pair of goals in the 21st and 39th minutes to get out in front. A failure to finish off chances throughout the second half left room for the Earthquakes to get back into the game, and Paul Marie ran through it to level the game in the 89th minute.

From the opening whistle the Sounders had good moments but looked distinctly like they’d just played on Sunday throughout the first 15 minutes. San Jose punished them for it in the 16th minute when a poor pass from Yeimar created a turnover, which resulted in a cross from the right side from Cristian Espinoza. Stefan Frei attempted to clear the cross but missed and Amahl Pellegrino beat both Alex and Cristian Roldan to the ball when it took a bounce and touched it into the back of the net to put the Earthquakes in the lead.

The goal seemed to wake up the Sounders and five minutes later they got themselves on the board. Albert Rusnák sent in a free kick that then pinged around in the box until an attempted clearance by an Earthquakes defender struck Pedro de la Vega and the rebound fell right to Jordan Morris who smashed the ball home in the 21st minute. From there the game fully flipped, as the Sounders started piling on chances and Morris added a second goal in the 39th minute to put Seattle in the lead.

Obed Vargas swung the ball out to Paul Rothrock on the right wing. Rothrock took a look at his options and hit a cross into the area that appeared to take a touch along the path as it made its way to Morris who controlled the ball with his first touch and then struck the ball on a half-volley to blast it into the net and make the score 2-1. The Sounders took eight shots following San Jose’s goal, including the two goals, and kept the Earthquakes from taking a single one through the rest of the first half.

Neither side seemed to have much control of the game in the second half, but Seattle piled up quality chances that they just couldn’t quite finish off. Georgi Minoungou came on as a substitute and was in the middle of several great moments, but a good save and a few final touches that were just a little off left a chance for the Earthquakes to spoil the day. That’s exactly what happened.

Approaching the end of regulation time Jeremy Ebobisse sent in a cross before Cristian Roldan could stop him, and Paul Marie got goal side of Alex Roldan and Yeimar to tie the game in the 89th minute. The Sounders worked to retake the lead and created one good look in the 2nd minute of stoppage off of a Danny Leyva cross to the back post, but a save from Earthquakes goalkeeper Daniel secured the result.

Seattle finish the night in fifth in the West, level on points with the 4th place Colorado Rapids who have played one fewer game. They now have 10 days until they host the Houston Dynamo on Saturday, September 28.

Key moments

6 - Shot! Albert Rusnák sends a corner out to Alex Roldan at the elbow of the box, where he hits a volley that’s deflected out for a corner.

10 - Save! Stefan Frei comes out to push away a cross that comes through the box headed toward the upper 90, conceding a corner.

16 - Goal, San Jose. Yeimar makes a poor pass to give the ball away, then an attempted clearance by him gives the ball to Cristian Espinoza. Espinoza plays a cross to Amal Pellegrino that isn’t dealt with by the Roldans or Stefan Frei and Pellegrino finishes the play off from point blank. 1-0 Earthquakes

21 - GOAL! Jordan Morris provides the Sounders with the answer! Rusnák sends in a free kick that is kept alive after a few bounces before an attempted clearance comes off of Pedro de la Vega and falls to Morris who smashes the game level. 1-1

39 - GOAL! Jordan Morris gets a second! Another Rusnák free kick gets recycled and Rothrock sends in a cross from the right that finds Morris near the penalty spot. Morris controls the ball with his first touch and finishes on the half-volley with his second touch to take the lead. 2-1 Sounders

71 - Cross! A Reed Baker-Whiting header changes possession and Rusnák plays a first-time through ball for Georgi Minoungou who collects and sends in a cross for Morris but goalkeeper Daniel is first to it.

78 - Shot! Minoungou creates space on the right and sets up a great look from the top of the box for Cristian Roldan, but the shot is blocked.

84 - Shot! Josh Atencio makes an interception then goes on a run down the left wing and drives inside before taking a shot from just inside the box that goes wide.

87 - Shot! Minoungou receives a ball over the top from Danny Leyva and holds it up to play Morris in for a shot. Morris takes a couple dribbles before taking a shot that was blocked by the GK.

89 - Goal, San Jose. Paul Marie finishes off a cross from Jeremy Ebobisse, beating Alex Roldan and Yeimar to the ball in the box to tie the game. 2-2

90+2 - Chance! Danny Leyva sends in a cross that’s headed down at the back post by Yeimar, but the shot is saved by the GK.

Quick thoughts

Pedro de la Vega’s on the scoresheet: It’s not the way he or anyone at the club would have hoped it would happen, but Pedro de la Vega got his first assist of the season for his part in Jordan Morris’ first goal. Ultimately it doesn’t matter how they happen, they still count the same, but hopefully being able to tick that box will help him breathe a little easier the next time he steps on the field. You can see the quality he offers, but you can see the pressure he’s putting on himself to get a goal. Maybe this will help to unlock him.

Caught sleeping: One of the issues that plagued the team during the early part of the season was that an otherwise solid performance would be totally undone by one or two individual errors resulting in goals. During the last several months, the Sounders have largely eliminated that issue when they play basically anyone other than LAFC, but something about the San Jose Earthquakes just makes this team do bad things. Both Roldans end up looking less than up to it on the two goals. Those moments weren’t representative of the rest of the game, but they show that a team doesn’t have to be LAFC to punish you if you get caught sleeping.

A career year for Jordan Morris: Morris set a personal record for regular season goals with his 12th and 13th goals of the season. Both goals were good finishes that showed off a little more technique that he’s often credited with. He’s also tied his total goal contributions from his 12-goal, 4-assist rookie regular season, and is two goal contributions from his career best of 18 (10 goals, 8 assists) from 2020. Finally firmly planted in the No. 9 spot, Morris is playing some of the best football of his career and shows no signs of slowing down.

Notable quote

Player spotlight

Albert Rusnák – Rusnák won’t get on the score sheet for this one, but he was instrumental in the play leading to both goals. He created five chances, 10 passes into the final third, and added a tackle while going 2/3 on duels.