Seattle Sounders 4- New York Red Bulls 2
Punching one’s ticket to the MLS Cup Playoffs sometimes requires a little bit of luck and sometimes a little bit of perserverance. On Sunday night at CenturyLink Field the Seattle Sounders got a little bit of both. After giving up a two goal lead the Sounders fought back late earning the 4-2 win over the visiting New York Red Bulls.
As has been the case all season, the Sounders struck early and often with both Jordan Morris (2′) and Nico Lodeiro (23′) scoring for the home side. But New York, who are fighting for their playoff lives, did not pack it in. Aaron Long cut the deficit to one in the 27th minute with his second goal of the season. After testing the Seattle defense for the better part of forty minutes they found the game-tying goal with Kaku putting the Red Bulls level in the 67th minute.
But fortune favored the Sounders on the day and in the 83rd minute they would once again take the lead. Morris and Victor Rodriguez had been finding space along the Red Bulls left flank for the better part of the second half building sustained possessions and creating several attacking chances. After the two worked a sublime give-and-go Rodriguez hit a low shot into the box that took a deflection off of Red Bulls defender Sean Davis into the back of the net. Seattle put the match away for good when Lodeiro earned his second of the match in injury time (90 +4′) his seventh of the season.
All photos are courtesy of Prost photographer Paul Kahl whose full gallery you can check out on SmugMug.
New York Red Bulls
Seattle Sounders FC
