Seattle, WA – Just 25 seconds into this match, Monterrey’s Hector Moreno was shown a yellow card just outside of his own box, immediately giving the Seattle Sounders a chance on goal in a match where they needed to win by a four-goal margin. Seattle midfielder Nico Lodeiro defied how poorly his club had been on set pieces the past few years, tucking a ball into the top right corner as Monterrey keeper Esteban Andrada didn’t even move. A Jordan Morris header four minutes leader had the Sounders fans at Lumen Field thinking that Seattle was going to have a magical run to advance. Then, reality hit like a freight train, as Monterrey scored the next four goals and march on in this year’s Leagues Cup.
Coming out swinging
With some solid training sessions at Starfire in the days leading into this match, and the Sounders success against Liga MX opponents in competitive matches (7-3-1 all time, 5-0-0 under Brian Schmetzer), there was some tiny light of hope coming into this match after the embarrassment of the 3-0 loss at Real Salt Lake in the first Leagues Cup match that Seattle played this year. That hope quickly grew from a flame of that from a match into a bonfire (No Cascadia jokes intended), as the Lodeiro and Morris goals had the Sounders kicked into high gear. Both goals seemed to represent means of offensive production that had died out at some point: a goal off a set piece and the Leo Chu to Jordan Morris connection that dominated the beginning of this MLS season. Seattle looked to have found the juice that vaulted them to the top of the Western Conference.
Seattle Sounders midfielder Nico Lodeiro celebrates with teammate Joao Paulo after scoring the first goal of the match (Photo by Nate Koppelman)
Lodeiro’s strike in the second minute of the match was the first goal off a set piece in, if memory serves, a few years and looked as though Nico had gone into the time machine. Dating back to midseason last year, Lodeiro hasn’t looked effective for the Sounders and thus has drawn the requests of fans to be sold in the next transfer window. Another “former” mean of offensive attack for the Sounders returned, as previously mentioned, as left-wing Leo Chu jumped all over a lazy pass from the Monterrey back line, putting a ball in far post. Jordan Morris was left all alone in his run to the back post, redirecting the cross with his head downwards to beat Andrada, who had jumped in anticipation for a higher headed ball. With energy, pace, and a real sense of urgency on display, the Sounders looked like the juggernaut that MLS had grown to loathe and appeared ready to make a major comeback to keep their Leagues Cup campaign alive.
Seattle Sounders forward Jordan Morris retrieves his goal from the net after scoring the clubs second goal of the night (Photo by Nate Koppelman)
No hero story here
The raging fire that was the Seattle squad raged on, dulling a bit as Monterrey snapped a bit out of the slumber that they had been in to begin the match. Even despite the two-goal lead that had them looking dominant to begin, the Sounders had to ward off a few early dangerous possessions from Monterrery before one finally broke through in the 31st minute. Sebastian Vegas sent a cross into the Seattle box for teammate German Berterame, who had his initial shot blocked before a rebound off the save from Sounders keeper Stefan Cleveland came right back for an easy tap in. Off a somewhat frustrating few minutes where Seattle had failed to clear the ball and really gave Monterrey too much space, resulting in all the time and open grass necessary for that first goal. The sort of sloppy breakdown set the tone for the rest of this match.
The second goal for Monterrey came on a penalty, where all sorts of chaos was taking place. VAR got involved, but the penalty was still given as Sounders midfielder Albert Rusnak was run into from behind but did have some contact in his own box, setting up Berterame’s second goal of the night. At the 30-minute mark of the match, Seattle looked like they’d be heading into halftime with a lead halfway to where they needed to be when the final whistle sounded. Instead, fortunes changed, and they went into the half tied after Berterame’s second goal came in the 45+2 mark. From that point on, it was all Monterrey the rest of the way through, as the Liga MX side spent the rest of the night effectively celebrating their advancement in the tournament while they left Seattle continuing to search for answers that they just can’t seem to find as this frustrating 2023 pushes forward.
Seattle Sounders forward Raul Ruidiaz had a late shot hit the post, adding insult to injury late (Photo by Paul Kahl)
What’s next?
Following tonight’s loss and departure from this year’s Leagues Cup, the Sounders will have a bit of a break from team play as their next match isn’t until August 20th. Considering the sort of slump/scuttle that Seattle has been experiencing since about early May, this sort of time off for the Sounders may be a good thing to have the club reset and get back to what made them so successful in the beginning of the season. Seattle has plenty of talent and veteran experience to get things turned around, but the change needs to come within if the Sounders are going to make any sort of noise in the MLS Playoffs. Their next match is on Sunday, August 20th, as Seattle hosts Atlanta United for a 7:30PM PST kickoff.
Seattle Sounders midfielder Joao Paulo wore the captains armband for this match, taking over for Nico Lodeiro and Stefan Frei (Injury) (Photo by Paul Kahl)
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