Jordan Morris’ brace was more than enough for the Seattle Sounders against the Los Angeles Galaxy.
By Ivan Yeo
Getting hot at just the right time.
A Seattle Sounders team that looked lifeless back in July now has a whole lot of it. Jordan Morris was the latest to keep Seattle rolling, as his brace propelled the Sounders to a 4-2 win against the Los Angeles Galaxy on a hot Sunday afternoon at StubHub Center.
“For us, it’s been in a while since we’ve come down here and got a result,” Sounders keeper Stefan Frei said. “It’s big especially at a crucial time of the season to come down here against a good team and play a good game.”
The win, the Seattle’s second in a row, now leaves them back just three points behind Portland for the sixth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Sounders are now 5-1-3 since replacing head coach Sigi Schmid with Brian Schmetzer back in July.
“We were looking at the results last night and saw that Portland lost and three points would really help us in the fight for the playoffs, so it’s good,” Morris said.
Tied at one in the second half, the Sounders pounced on an opportunity in the 62nd minute. Seattle had snuffed out a Galaxy attack and Alvaro Fernandez cleared a ball towards midfield. Morris and Galaxy defender Daniel Steres fought for control of the ball, Morris won the battle, took a few touches into the penalty area and curled a ball that beat keeper Brian Rowe into the far post to give Seattle the lead.
Morris and the Sounders weren’t done yet. In the 74th minute, Morris sent a ball to Fernandez, who headed a ball into the six-yard box, Nelson Valdez headed a shot on goal, Rowe came up with the save, but the ball fell to Morris, who took a quick touch before firing a shot past Rowe, this time to the near post give Seattle the two-goal cushion.
“On the first one, the defender cleared it and I just kind of touched it around the guy and we were scrapping and I just ended up getting ahead of him,” Morris said of his first goal. On the next one, the ball was bouncing around the box and it just came to me and Robbie Rogers was kind of turned around so I just took it with my left and saw the space was open so I just passed it in there.”
Seattle sealed the three points in the 78th minute. Nicolas Lodeiro played a ball to Osvaldo Alonzo, but referee Armando Villarreal got in the way of the pass and the ball went off him. That actually might have been a blessing in disguise, as the ball went forward, Alonso chased down, then proceeded to launch a laser from about 26 yards out that sailed past Rowe into the far post net. The Galaxy did pull one back on a Robbie Keane penalty late in the half, but not that, or five minutes of stoppage time was enough to deny Seattle the three points.
“I was thinking that maybe they would tire in the second half and the game would open up in the second half, especially on such a big field,” Morris said. “It was really hot out there so the first half was a bit of a dog fight a little and then I thought it would open up and I think it did.”
The Galaxy jumped ahead in the 20th minute, as Sebastian Lletget took a ball from Giovani Dos Santos, crossed into the penalty area and Keane headed the cross past Stefan Frei for the game’s first goal.
The Sounders however caught a break in the 36th minute. The Sounders won a corner, Andreas Ivanschitz sent the corner into the box, Chad Marshall charged for the ball as did LA’s Jelle Van Damme, Van Damme got to the ball first, but his header went the wrong way, as it went into the back net for an unlikely equalizer.
“When anything or anybody is in your face with difficult situations, you sink or swim,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said. “We’d prefer to stay alive and keep swimming. I think the ‘one game at a time’ mantra is overused by a lot of people, but really, truly, that’s what we have done.”
The Sounders now get to focus on its next match, and it will be a doozy, as they face Vancouver for a Sunday evening tilt at BC Place
