A first time for everything: Sounders fall at St. Louis City

The Seattle Sounders went on the road and, for the first time since their hosts entered the league, lost to St. Louis City. St. Louis claimed a 1-0 victory, the first time Seattle have not won a meeting between the two teams, thanks to a great free kick goal from Eduard Löwen in the 15th minute.

The goal came from another frustrating moment for a Sounders defender. Jackson Ragen, with the ball at his feet, slipped and grabbed the ball while on the ground. He was shown a yellow card for grabbing the ball, and St. Louis were awarded a free kick from about 25 yards out. Stefan Frei set up his wall in front of the near post and positioned himself to defend the far post, but Löwen seemed to easily get his shot over the wall and tucked it just inside the near post to score the opener that also proved to be the winning goal.

Seattle pushed to find a goal of their own and had a handful of chances during the first half’s final 10 minutes as Georgi Minoungou earned a pair of corners and created an open-play look of his own, but the only attempt that even forced a save from St. Louis goalkeeper Benjamin Lundt was a header from Ragen that was hit right at him.

Frei was forced to make a handful of saves, with a diving stop in the 60th minute to deny Conrad Wallem and a pair of big blocks in the 85th and 90th minutes being the standouts, but St. Louis weren’t especially dangerous either. Beyond Seattle’s struggle to score, they also seemed to struggle to understand where exactly referee Fotis Bazakos was drawing the line. Several players seemed baffled by decisions not to call fouls throughout the first half. As tempers built up Jesus Ferreira grew frustrated during a St. Louis corner kick and then was shown a yellow for what appeared to have been deemed a retaliatory challenge in first half stoppage that bore a particular similarity to several challenges put in against Sounders players, as he could be seen pointing out after the halftime whistle blew.

In the 71st minute Henry Kessler was shown a yellow card for a form tackle on Cristian Roldan that would have been fairly solid for a rugby player, but was called for a foul since this is actually not rugby. Roldan stayed on the ground for a bit after the play and had to receive attention from the trainers for an issue with his calf. He stayed on the field, but had to come off a few minutes later in the 79th minute, adding another possible name to a growing injury list.

In the third minute of second half stoppage time it looked like Obed Vargas had provided Seattle a lifeline after Henry Kessler brought him down in the penalty area. Unfortunately the ball hit his hand during the buildup to that moment, and after Bazakos went to the monitor to review the play the penalty was called off due to the handball offense. The team tried to find another chance, but that moment sealed the result.

Key moments

15 - Goal, St. Louis. Jackson Ragen slips and grabs the ball, giving St. Louis a free kick opportunity and Eduard Löwen puts his shot from 25 yards out in the back of the net. 1-0 St. Louis

30 - Miss. Chris Durkin seems to clearly foul Alex Roldan but no call is given and Marcel Hartel gets a shot that goes out for a goal kick.

37 - Corner! Georgi Minoungou wins a corner and the Sounders get a couple of dangerous crosses from it, but never truly test the GK.

40 - Header! Another corner won by Minoungou, another good cross from Albert Rusnák that Jackson Ragen connects with but the effort is easily caught.

43 - Shot! Minoungou dribbles through a few players before unleashing a shot from distance, but he can’t put it on frame and it’s out for a goal kick.

53 - Chance! Alex Roldan sends in a good cross for Rusnák in the area, but his header is blocked and the danger is cleared.

60 - Save! Conrad Wallem has a rip from the edge of the box that Frei dives to grab it just before it sneaks into the bottom corner.

76 - Shot! Minoungou finds Rusnák with a nice pass, but the shot is scuffed and blocked and cleared away.

85 - Save! Frei provides a quality initial save to deny a look from close range, but his block gives up a rebound and Nouhou gets in the way of the follow-up attempt and the ball is eventually cleared.

90 - Save! Nouhou slips and gives up the ball in a dangerous spot, but Frei is able to make an initial save on the sudden attack and Nouhou clears the ball off the line to atone.

90+3 - Handball. Obed Vargas is brought down in the box and a penalty is called, but the play is reviewed for a possible handball by Vargas and the lifeline is taken away.

Quick thoughts

Calling out for a striker: Part of the appeal of brining in Jesús Ferreira is his appeal. He can play up top — possibly alongside or in place of Jordan Morris — as well as across the attacking band of three midfielders in Seattle’s setup. Against St. Louis it was clear why the Sounders have preferred to use him as more of a creator or a 10 than as a No. 9. Ferreira doesn’t, or at least wasn’t stretching the back line the way that Morris does, and that’s not exactly Georgi Minoungou’s game, which left Paul Rothrock as the lone and seldom-used option to try to play in behind. Things improved a bit when Ferreira came off and Danny Musovski came on, but unless the team’s approach changes they’d be well-served to look for a non-Morris No. 9 option who is an improvement over what Musovski offers.

The hits just keep coming: With Paul Arriola likely out for the season and Jordan Morris and Pedro de la Vega both out for the next month and change with muscle injuries picked up in the last week, things may have gotten even worse from the injury perspective as an apparent calf issue forced Cristian Roldan to leave the game in the 79th minute. Although it didn't seem very serious, losing another key player – even if only late in the game – was not what Sounders needed. Danny Leyva came in for Roldan, and the Sounders also have João Paulo available to help fill any absence, but there's no added points for difficulty.

Returning to predictability: With an acknowledgement that several of the players the team would expect to help provide unpredictability and quality in the final-third — and who have, to their credit, done so in this young season — are unavailable due to injury, the Sounders were extremely predictable against St. Louis. Despite dominating the ball and taking a fair number of shots, the Sounders struggled to create genuinely threatening looks at goal. Georgi Minoungou created a few chances for teammates out of 1v1, 2 and some times 3 situations on the wing, they tended to come against a set defense and a packed box. Seattle strung passes together, but weren’t able to orchestrate the kind of combination play in dangerous areas that they needed to open up the hosts’ well-organized defense, and without being able to effectively play Rothrock in behind for one reason or another there just wasn’t any way for them to stretch St. Louis apart or open them up. St. Louis knew what was coming when Seattle had the ball, and time after time the Sounders simply threw themselves against the wall, only forcing goalkeeper Benjamin Lundt to make a single save. A week of training ahead of next week’s game won’t make Rusnák particularly excited, but it’s probably what they need at this moment.

Notable quote

Player spotlight

Georgi Minoungou – Minoungou was involved in just about every dangerous moment the team created. He was credited with 2 chances created and 5 successful dribbles, but it took 12 attempts to get those 5 successes and he lost 9 of 15 duels.