Seattle, WA – Despite returning to near complete form on the injury front and playing in front of their home crowd, the Seattle Sounders yet again dropped points on their own turf and continue to squander opportunities as we fast approach the MLS Playoffs, recording a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas. Seattle vastly outshot and out chanced the visiting Dallas, but their finishing failures remain a key issue for the Sounders who will now have about a month until their next regular season competition as the MLS All-Star break approaches and the Leagues Cup gets underway. Some of these recent matches may have been considered must win, and while I wouldn’t say that, the opportunity to stay atop the Western Conference in points has slipped right out of Seattle’s hands by their own fault.
Prior to the match, the Sounders held a special ceremony as this was the “Bruce Lee” match (Photo by Paul Kahl)
Luck of Leo
Sounders left winger Leo Chu continues to have his best year to date with the club, and his impact from last match in Vancouver where he tallied a brace seemed to leak into tonight’s battle at home. The Brazilian attacker was the key factor in Seattle’s only goal of the match, off some strong buildup in the Sounders midfield by Albert Rusnak. Chu and Rusnak did a give and go, allowing Leo to get up the sideline as Albert sent a through ball up the sideline through a Dallas defense that didn’t seem to read what was happening quite in time. Using his speed to get up the pitch with ease, Chu got a few feet into the Dallas box before sending a cross into the center in the direction of teammate Cristian Roldan. Although Chu was a step ahead of his defender, Roldan was not, as Dallas left back Sam Junqua had the inside positioning but his attempt to clear the cross ended up in his net for an own goal.
While there may have been a bit of fortune in play there for the Sounders, something I’m sure that they’re more than happy to accept given their struggles with scoring, that build up and play as a whole had Chu’s name all over it. Throughout the course of the match, Chu was able to generate a ton of danger on his own simply due to his play off the ball as he went on strong runs and put balls in position for his teammates to try and hammer home. As stated before and can be amplified even more after his crucial brace up in Vancouver that was a major part in beating the Whitecaps, Chu’s play this season is a major success for the club and himself. After sort of scuttling along in his first few years with the club and trying to find a groove, the Brazilian appears to have found that right rhythm and his early season run of assists to Jordan Morris wasn’t some fluke. While there are areas of his game that can certainly still be polished, Chu has been one of the best attacking players that Seattle has had this season.
Seattle Sounders FC forward Leo Chu continues to impress on the attack (Photo by Paul Kahl)
Lead lost by lack of focus
While the chances continued to pile on and the momentum seemed to side heavily with the Sounders as the first half drew closer to an end, things took a turn three minutes before the halftime break. Dallas put together their most dangerous sequence of the entire net, which didn’t even register high on the expected goals percentile with just 0.21. The Dallas midfield was able to navigate the central part of the pitch, getting the ball out to Sebastian Lletget on the wing, who only needed to take a few steps up field before firing in an excellent ball to the middle of the Seattle box. Earlier when the Dallas midfield was moving with success and prior to the pass out to Lletget, Sounders center backs Yeimar and Jackson Ragen had pressed up and out of position for some reason, almost looking like they were trying to assist in defending Dallas up in the middle of the field. That allowed more than enough room in the Seattle backline for Dallas right winger Bernanrd Kamungo, who had a strong run up and into the center of the box for Lleget’s ball, heading it strongly off the left glove off Sounders keeper Stefan Frei.
The odd decision by both Ragen and Yeimar to press up into the play, out of position as well, is concerning not only because it allowed the goal that gave Dallas the equalizer and is part of the reason that points were split. It’s concerning because they didn’t need to move up into the play at all, given that Seattle midfielders Obed Vargas and Joao Paulo had things relatively under control. Had the Sounders backline held strong and kept their numbers in positioning, Dallas wouldn’t have been able to get that pocket of positioning for Lletget to send a ball into Kamungo and likely clears away any sort of attempt that would’ve replaced it. With only three total shots and one corner on the attacking aspect, Dallas didn’t do anything threatening to Seattle in this match. They were totally outclassed, yet because of that lapse in play, Dallas leaves Lumen Field with a point that you could argue they didn’t at all deserve.
Gotta be quicker than that
While yes, allowing the frustrating equalizer takes the wind out of the sails of the Sounders a bit for a few reasons, including that it was right before the halftime break, Seattle still managed to generate chances like an efficient machine. If the Sounders were able to win games with the sheer number of generated chances, they’d be well on their way to a Supporters Shield without question. Alas, this is reality, and Seattle’s chances without a finish mean nothing, which was emphasized by head coach Brian Schmetzer postgame. Outside of the own goal against Dallas’ Junqua, the Sounders put up attacking numbers of 1.33 expected goals, 17 total shots, three big chances, and a whopping 14 corners on the night. Seeing those numbers without looking at the result, you’d think that the club responsible would’ve put in an MLS record blowout of their opponent. The Sounders continuously guided themselves into prime position to put the final piece of the puzzle into its spot, but then essentially lost the piece as it slipped out of their hand to dash any sort of progress made.
Seattle Sounders FC midfielder Cristian Roldan returned to club action in this match (Photo by Paul Kahl)
What’s next?
Following this draw to Dallas, the Sounders will have seven days until their next competition, and 36 days until their next regular season contest. A week from now, on Saturday, July 22nd, Seattle heads to a Western Conference rival in Real Salt Lake for their first match in this year’s iteration of the Leagues Cup. That match has a kickoff time of 6:30PM PST at America First Field as the Sounders have their eyes set on trying to obtain another trophy to add to the club’s case, but the teams finishing is an obvious area to adjust if that’s to be any sort of reality. Eight days later, Seattle will host a Leagues Cup match against Monterrey before their next regular season match on August 20th at Lumen Field against Atlanta.
Check out Paul Kahl’s match gallery here!
