The Seattle Sounders beat Austin FC 1-0 in the Texas capital on Saturday night. On the back of Tuesday’s matchup in Sacramento, tonight’s matchup against Austin had the potential to be a tough one. But the Sounders managed to put together a no-nonsense performance and return home to Seattle with all three points.
The first half played exactly the way the Sounders wanted it to. No clear chances for Austin and the game was done at Seattle’s pace. Of course, there were moments when the Sounders would have liked to have seen more composure in attack, but away from home they dominated the first half on the short break. In the 33rd minute, Dani Musovski led a counter-attack but lost the ball at his feet and couldn’t find Pedro de la Vega’s wide open ball.
The Sounders were able to open their own alley-oop with their performance in the second half. Building on the foundation they built in the first half, Seattle came out in the second half and took care of business. Built around Albert Rusnak and Jordan Morris, the Patriots immediately settled into the tempo and took control. Morris’s influence was well felt as his instincts to get in behind caused all sorts of problems for Austin FC out wide and Brendan Hines-Icke. On the stroke of half-time, Morris scored and Hines-Icke was sent off.
Key moments
5 – Austin get their first corner kick of the game but can’t do anything about it. Due to them damaging Leo Chu to protect the counter.
7 – Gyasi Zardes plays in behind but fires his shot well over the bar.
12 – De La Vega has a 30 yard free kick over Brad Stuwer’s bar. close!
16 – De la Vega goes down in the box looking for a foul and is waved off by the referee. Julio Cascante leaves a leg to take De La Vega down, but no call.
24 – Dani Musovski goes down for the second time with an apparent head injury. He was sent off for a check and had to stay off the field for 2 minutes due to MLS rules.
33 – The Sounders were on a dangerous counterattack but Musovski couldn’t find any of his teammates, De la Vega was especially open.
35 – Yeimar Gómez Andrade receives a yellow card for handball. A dangerous free kick for Austin on the edge of the box.
40 – Dangerous moments for Austin who managed to get in a couple of dangerous crosses but nobody was able to finish.
45+2 – Austin end the half with two chances but none to come of it.
HT – Rusnak and Morris enter a match for De La Vega and Musovski.
49 – Frei has to save well on Sebastian Drusy’s header at the near post.
52 – An extremely ambitious volley from Alex Roldan flies into the stands. If only a candidate of the year had met on that. 45 seconds later, Paul Rothrock followed with a backhand slash.
58 – Brendan Hines-Icke receives a yellow card for bringing down Morris on the break.
61 – Chu with great enthusiasm. The Sounders had a clear break in goal, Rusnak played Chou perfectly, and Chou shot it right over Stover.
63 – Maurice’s goal!!!!!!!!!!!! Vargas with a nice dribble, Rothrock with a smooth layoff, and Morris with a nice finish. Left leg too.
66 – Reed Baker – Whiting on the candidate.
77 – Hines-Icke is sent off for a second yellow.
79 – A free kick from an earlier foul is nailed off the line by Rusnak. It’s a beautiful time for the hot player.
90 – Diego Rubio throws Ragan in the box and the referee waves. It’s not a punishment! The ensuing corner is almost scored by Austin, but it only goes wide.
Quick ideas
Jordan Morris This, Jordan Morris That: One of the most popular players in MLS didn’t even have to start the game to make his impact. Morris was a threat after coming on at half-time. He scored two yellow cards on Hines-Ike in the 32nd minute of the game. Beyond that, he was just a constant threat.
Schmetzer’s master’s degree in management Even with a busy schedule, the Sounders head coach decided to go to the hole with the starting lineup instead of making wholesale changes. Seattle made just three changes in their last MLS game, and the line-up that started in the second half could be considered their first-choice starting XI from an all-rounder. Aside from the picks, you have to think Brian Schmetzer is the happiest man in the world with his team’s performance tonight.
Vargas’ win: The unsung hero of the game tonight was Obed Vargas. He shows up on the stat sheet as the second assist on the goal, but his presence is felt more in the game. He was decisive and decisive on the ball, won the pucks, and dominated the midfield game against Austin for the most part. A real man of the game from a young kid.
A famous quote
Schmetzer on the team: “The ball seems to be running towards us. Maybe they will call a penalty at the beginning of the year. Maybe that corner crept in. Jimmy Gabriel used to say ‘your luck goes out’ and we had a lot of bad luck at the start of the year. Evening.”
— Jeremiah O’Shawn (@JeremiasO’Shawn) July 14, 2024
Player attention
Stefan Frey – This matchup won’t end this way without Frey’s 111th career shutout, just one behind Kevin Hartman for second. He made crucial saves throughout the game to tie the game and, more importantly, when Austin went up on goal at halftime to make it 1-0.