Sounders vs. SKC, recap: making hay in the sunshine

SEATTLE — The Seattle Sounders hosted Sporting Kansas City on a really fine Saturday afternoon in June and made it all worth it with a crucial 3-0 win.

Will Bruin didn’t even get the party started 10 minutes into the game. The Sounders moved the ball around the defense until Jackson Ragen finally saw what he was looking for: Alex Roldan moved into space on the right wing. He made a perfect switch that Alex covered for Cristian Roldan, who played an inch-perfect cross that Bruin ran to at the far post. Bruin sent his header back over the goal to beat Tim Melia and put his side in front. Both sides had chances as the Sounders kept finding space on the wings, but neither goaltender had to work too hard to maintain the goal for the rest of the first 45 minutes.

In the second half, both teams continued to press and create chances, but it was the Sounders who made the most of it. Within five minutes of the 70th minute, Seattle opened the game with well-crafted goals from Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldan. First, Morris headed home an excellent cross after Nouhou had all the time and space in the world to peck out his ball, then Léo Chú and Morris met to give Roldan a 3-0 lead with a tap-in at the far post for Seattle. The Sounders would get a few more looks, but they couldn’t think of anything else. The 3-0 win makes the Sounders record at home 3-0-1, +8 through four games. They will close the home stand on Wednesday when they host CF Montréal.

8th’ – Who but Will Bruin? Cristian Roldan sends in a nice cross and Will Bruin hits a nice header at the far post to get back over the goal. Sonar leads 1:0!

34′ — SKC seems to have their best appearance of the game as they get a shot from inside the box that ricochets off the underside of the bar, but they’re flagged for offside.

35′ — Nouhou is beaten and crossed by Johnny Russell, but his slithering last-minute intervention blocks a cross, sending the Sounders running.

38′ — Kelyn Rowe makes a great play, jumping on a ball and running through KC’s defense, but Jordan Morris can’t do enough with his cutback.

45′ — Graham Zusi delivers a dangerous cross from the right, but Alex Roldan intervenes at the far post and heads the ball in for a corner.

47′ — Cameron Duke drives down the Sounders’ right side and uses a shross as he gets close to the near post, but it goes out for a goal kick.

52′ — Jordan Morris gets a shot wide from a cross from Cristian Roldan which is deflected by Will Bruin before touching Graham Zusi’s hand but no penalty is given.

71′ — Jordan Morris makes two! Nouhou sends a cross in and Morris heads it off the edge of the 6-yard box and into the top of the net! 2-0

76′ — Christian Roldan! Léo Chú rips open the left side, launching Morris into space. Morris plays the ball towards the far post where Roldan sends it home. 3-0

80′ — Morris picks up the ball in SKC’s half and is in goal. His shot is saved, leading to a series of hilarious missed opportunities in front of Tim Melia.

The Great Plains Giroud: Will Bruin will likely forever be remembered by the biggest MLS nerd as one of the best domestic forwards of the league’s youth days. It’s something, but it’s far less than he deserves. Bruin is likely underrated due to the era he grew up in and the type of team he played in before coming to Seattle. With the Sounders, however, he seemed to come alive most when he could work with the technical players around him, displaying a deceptively soft touch and a high football IQ. In addition to his goal, Bruin frequently played wide with his teammates and caused problems with his movement when he took advantage of Raúl Ruidíaz’s absence.

Everyone is eating: The absence of Raúl Ruidíaz with a hamstring injury may have raised some concerns about where the goals might come from and the clear answer after that game was: everywhere. In the 3-0 win, Seattle had three different goalscorers and six different players were credited with assists. Cristian Roldan and Jordan Morris both had a goal and an assist, while Will Bruin’s goal opened the scoring. With or without a star forward, the Sounders will win the way they always do: as a team. When food is on the table, everyone in this squad eats.

Defense Wins Championships: A 3-0 win is great, everyone loves it. It’s probably easiest to celebrate 3 goals, but for the Sounders, this shutout feels particularly good right now. Coming into that 5-game home stand, Seattle had only kept one clean sheet in the league that season, conceding 15 goals in 11 games. During the 4 games of that run at home, the Sounders added two more clean sheets and gave up only two goals as they beat their opponents 10-2 and won 3-0-1. They have increased their goal difference to +6 and are in a good position to move up the table thanks to improved defensive performances and dominant play at home.

A great game from start to finish to open the scoring thanks to Will Bruins Noggin.

Everyone loved Tim Melia being booed.

6 – Including secondary assists, 6 different players were credited with assists for the Sounders 3 goals.

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