Seattle, WA – The Seattle Sounders continue what has been a rough season, after beginning the year blisteringly hot, as they fell to Atlanta United at home and now have not won since July 8th. Seattle continues to lack creativity and production on their attack, as they racked up a total of 16 shots but only creating one chance on the night that they missed. The Sounders weren’t particularly poor defensively, but Atlanta forward Giorgos Giakoumakis beat Seattle’s Nouhou twice on headers to give the away side the two-goal lead that proved too much. What was left of the 31,149 in attendance for this match let out audible boos once the final whistle was blown, and not without good reason, as their Sounders continue to struggle when they should be making a playoff push.
Multiple former Sounders players and staff made their way back to Lumen Field for this match, including Osvaldo Alonso who helped honor Stefan Frei, Gonzalo Pineda, and Garth Lagerwey (Photos by Nate Koppelman)
Nouhou gets burned twice
After the qualifying matches for the previous FIFA Men’s World Cup, Cameroonian left back Nouhou Tolo was getting predicted as a player that was going to make the big jump from the MLS to a European club due to his strong play for his country and, locking down Mo Salah. It was rumored that the Sounders were going to sell Nouhou after the Men’s World Cup had ended, but instead they gave him a three-year contract with an option for 2026. Nouhou has had his ups and downs this season for the club, but tonight’s effort was easily his lowlight of the year as he was largely responsible for the two goals that Atlanta scored.
For the second score, Nouhou let Giakoumakis get behind him as the last man on the backline for the easier header of the two that he scored tonight. Giorgos raised his hand to signal that he had the step on Nouhou, and the Sounders left back never had a chance to try and head it down as he was left chasing Atlanta’s number seven on a header that bounced below the outstretched left arm of Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei and up into the net. Several Sounders players could be seen waiting to restart the match in position, hands on their hips and heads looking into the sky. Frustrations continue, and nobody in the club seems to have an answer.
Raul Ruidiaz and the Seattle Sounders racked up 16 shots, but only two of them were on target (Photo by Paul Kahl)
Offensive attack still as exciting as watching paint dry
Like how matches have gone for them since Mid-April, Seattle’s offense hasn’t been able to lighten the load that their defense has had to carry. The Sounders attack put up 16 shots on the night, which at first glance makes you wonder why the negativity around the attack because surely that’d be enough to get Seattle on the board or at least really threaten Atlanta throughout the course of this match. You’d be wrong, though, as the Sounders only had two of those shots on target. Despite the amount of time off that they had to regroup and recenter themselves on the attack after being bounced from the Leagues Cup, Seattle lacked any real creativity with the ball, leaving them with little to challenge Atlanta keeper Brad Guzan with.
Playoff push in danger
With tonight’s loss, the Sounders still currently sit in the fourth spot in the Western Conference of MLS by some miracle. The race is getting more and more important for Seattle as the days go by, as the Sounders have been in a funk since their ugly and humiliating loss on the road to the Portland Timbers back on April 15th. Since the month of May began, Seattle has gone a dismal 4-10-3 across all competitions and has only scored more than two goals in a match twice in that span. The Sounders haven’t been cohesive or explosive on offense since Jordan Morris and Leo Chu were connecting like wild. Defensively, the club hasn’t particularly been playing poorly this season as they still lead the league in clean sheets, but it’s obvious that you can’t expect the back line to be perfect every match when the attack has been so bone dry.
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