Photos by Max Aquino & Nick Danielson
Captions by Steven Agen
The Seattle Sounders took on West Ham United in an international friendly at CenturyLink Field on Tuesday night. The match marked Seattle’s fifth-ever match against an English Premier League opponent.
Both sides started reserve-heavy lineups. With Dimitri Payet still with France, Andy Carroll was the biggest star on display for the Hammers.
Herculez Gomez opened the scoring for Seattle five minutes before the break. Goalkeeper Adrian took the veteran striker down, and Gomez stepped up and buried the penalty he won for 1-0.
Gomez’s goal was the only of the first half. West Ham made ten subs to start the second half, with Seattle making changes in waves as well. The pace of the match altered accordingly, and proceedings became disjointed with all the new faces.
Jordan Morris subbed into the match on 62′ and it didn’t take him long to make his mark. Oalex Anderson redirected a Zach Mathers free kick towards goal just eight minutes later. Backup goalkeeper Raphael Spiegel saved, but Morris was there to poke in the rebound for 2-0.
Seattle’s rookie phenom added to his tally moments later on 72′. Joevin Jones played Morris in down the right left flank, putting the forward through on goal at an angle. He curled right-footed around Spiegel into the far side netting for his brace and a 3-0 lead for Seattle.
Morris’ heroics were the last important moments of the match, and Sigi Schmid’s men had completed an uplifting and injury-free friendly win. The match marked Seattle’s first ever victory over an EPL side and also marked a 3-match unbeaten run in all competitions for the Sounders. They next host LA Galaxy on Saturday in a crucial and emotional chance to turn their poor season around.
Seattle Sounders FC
