Seattle Sounders beat Austin FC 1-0 on Saturday night in the Texas capital. After Tuesday’s game in Sacramento, tonight’s game against Austin had the potential to be tricky. But the Sounders managed to put together a ridiculous performance and were able to fly home to Seattle with all three points.
The first half played exactly as the Sounders wanted. No clear chances for Austin and the game was played at Seattle’s pace. Of course, there were a few moments where you would have liked to see the Sounders have more composure in attack, but they dominated the first half, on the short break, away from home. . The most important moment should have been when Danny Murovski led the attack in the 33rd minute, but lost the ball under his feet and couldn’t find Pedro de la Vega open, who was clear in purpose.
The Sounders managed to get their act together with their second half performance. Building on the foundation they built in the first half, Seattle came out in the second half and took care of business. Joining Albert Rusnák and Jordan Morris, the veterans were able to immediately enter the tempo and dominate. Morris’s influence in particular was felt as his tendency to get in from the back caused all sorts of problems for Austin FC in general and Brendan Hines-Ike in particular. On the half-hour mark, Morris scored and got Hines-Ike sent off.
Important moments
5 – Austin gets their first quarter of the game but can’t do anything with it. It resulted in fouling Leo Chu to block the counter.
7 – Gyasi Zardes was played from behind but fired his shot well over the bar.
12 – de la Vega has a 30 yard free kick that is tipped over the bar by Brad Stuver. Close!
16 – de la Vega was brought down in the box for a foul but the referee waved it off. Julio Cascante left his legs to take de la Vega down, but no call.
24 – Danny Murovski goes down for the second time with a head injury. He was taken off the field for a check and due to MLS rules, he had to stay off the field for 2 minutes.
33 – The Sounders were in a dangerous attack, but Murovski couldn’t find any of his teammates, the most open de la Vega.
35 – Yeimar Gomez Andrade received a yellow card for hands in the face. A dangerous free kick for Austin on the edge of the box.
40 – Dangerous moments for Austin where they managed to get in a few dangerous crosses but no one was able to finish them off.
45+2 – Austin ends the half with a couple of chances but nothing materialises.
HT – Rusnak and Morris join de la Vega and Murovski.
49 – Frei had to make a great save in his area near the head of Sebastian Drussi.
52 – A passionate volley from Alex Roldan flew into the posts. A candidate for goal of the year if he was linked to that. 45 seconds later, Paul Rothrock followed this up with a shot from behind.
58 – Brendan Hines-Ike is booked for bringing down Morris on the break.
61 – Chu with a big miss. The Sounders had a clear break in the goal, Rusnak played Chu well, and Chu shot it well past Stuver.
63 – MORRIS GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!! Vargas with a good dribble, Rothrock with an easy job, and Morris with a good finish. Left leg again.
JMO IS OLD 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/EvCaXiOiR7
– Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) July 14, 2024
66 Reed Baker-Whiting on for Chu.
77 – Hines-Ike is sent off for his second yellow.
79 – a free kick that followed a poor previous play was NAILED from the crossbar by Rusnak. Almost a good moment for a hot player.
90 – Diego Rubio is brought down in the box by Ragen and the referee lifts it. Not a punishment! The next corner is almost produced by Austin, but it goes just wide.
Quick thoughts
Jordan Morris this, Jordan Morris that: One of the hottest players in MLS right now didn’t even need to start a game to make his impact. Morris was a threat after coming on at half-time. In the 32nd minute of the game, he drew two yellow cards on Hines-Ike and scored a goal. Moreover, it was a constant threat.
Schmetzer masterclass in management: The Sounders head coach has decided to go to the well again with his starting line-up instead of making too many changes, despite his busy schedule. Seattle made just three changes in their last MLS game, and the team that started the second half might be considered their first-choice first team. Without the votes, you have to think that Brian Schmetzer is the happiest person in the world with the performance his team put in tonight.
Vargas’ win: The unsung hero of the game tonight was Obed Vargas. He will appear on the stat sheet with the second assist on the goal, but his presence was more felt throughout the game. He was active and decisive on the ball, won his own tackles, and dominated the game from midfield against Austin. A real sportsman from a young age.
notable quote
Schmetzer on team structure: “The ball seems to be going our way. Maybe at the beginning of the year, they call a penalty. Maybe that corner is slipping. Jimmy Gabriel used to say ‘your luck is getting better. And at the beginning of the year we had a lot of luck. It’s evening.”
— Jeremiah Oshan (@JeremiahOshan) July 14, 2024
Light of the players
Stefan Frei – The game doesn’t end this way without Frei’s 111th shutout, just one behind Kevin Hartman for second. He made some key saves throughout the game to keep it level, and more importantly he kept it 1-0 when Austin threw a sick ball at goal in stoppage time.
#Short #break #problem #Sounders #win #road