Babies back: Sounders claim dramatic victory

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SEATTLE – The Seattle Sounders erased a 2-0 deficit for the second time in four days, this time coming back to win 3-2 against FC Dallas on Saturday. Jordan Morris scored twice, including a spectacular 90+4′ winner thanks to an absolutely perfect pass from Obed Vargas. Morris also scored the equalizer with a header in the 88th minute from a corner. Raúl Ruidíaz started the comeback with a header in the 78th minute, while Albert Rusnák provided an assist for the first two goals.

The dramatic ending could hardly have been predicted based on the first 65 minutes. At this point, the score was 0-0, with the Sounders mostly controlling the game.

But then a sloppy pass from Jackson Ragen gave FC Dallas life. Logan Farrington collected it and immediately sent a cross to Patrickson Delgado who was able to sneak in unmarked.

Just four minutes later, another defensive breakdown allowed Dallas to add a second goal. This time it was Delgado who played the role of provider, working a 1-2 with Peter Musa that seemed to catch the Sounders off guard. Musa fired his shot past Stefan Frei from close range to take a 2-0 lead.

At this point, the Sounders looked as good as dead.

However, instead of accepting their fate, the Sounders clawed their way out of the hole. The comeback may have started when Rusnák fired a shot from the edge of the penalty area to force Maarten Paes into a save. From there, the Sounders kept the pressure on until Rusnák sent a cross into the box which Ruidíaz headed towards goal, the exact type of goal he hasn’t scored all year .

Ruidíaz celebrated by pointing to the name on his jersey, a move that head coach Brian Schmetzer assumed was a sign to the coaches to “don’t forget me.”

Just a minute later, the Sounders had a pretty solid penalty when Paul Rothrock’s shot deflected off the leg and then arm of Omar Gonzalez.

This only increased the energy in the stadium, which completely exploded in the 88th minute when Morris scored the equalizer from a Rusnak corner. It was the Sounders’ first goal from a corner this season and Rusnák’s ninth assist.

It was also just a precursor to the most exciting moment of the season.

As Dallas pushed the numbers in an attempt to win their own game, the Sounders gained possession near midfield. Vargas, who minutes earlier was looking for a substitute after a violent tackle, had the ball at his feet and immediately spotted Morris running. The perfectly weighted pass hit Morris in stride and although he wasn’t able to create much separation on the defenders, he still managed to hit a perfect strike into the upper 90s to secure the victory by behind.

It was the first time since the 2020 Western Conference Finals that the Sounders won a game after trailing by two goals.

Key moments

6 – Obed Vargas makes a nice move to enter the area but his shot is blocked.

7 – João Paulo makes an interception deep in Dallas territory and plays Albert Rusnák. Léo Chú seemed open on the left, but Rusnák shoots and sees his shot blocked.

8 – Another João Paulo interception leads to the first real chance of the match when he enters the box but his tight-angle shot goes just wide.

8 – Another interception from Dallas, this time with Danny Musovski as the beneficiary. He plays a 1-2 with Vargas and has Jordan Morris, but he can’t get him off his feet and the chance is cleared.

16 – João Paulo gets an open look from 25 yards out only for his shot to hit the post.

17 – Dallas gets its first dangerous look of the game when Peter Musa heads towards Jackson Ragen, who defends him well and Cristian Roldan steps in to clear the danger.

21 – João Paulo makes a magnificent pass to put Jordan Morris in a running race with Nkosi Tafari. Morris wins the battle for the ball, but fails to make a clean shot and Tafari recovers to block it.

36 – Albert Rusnák forces Maarten Paes to make a nice diving save on a shot from around 20 yards out.

37 – João Paul plays Vargas but his shot is off the net.

56 – Peter Musa gets two decent looks from inside the box. The first is blocked and the second is fired directly at Frei.

61 – Logan Farrington comes out on break as soon as he comes into play and forces Frei into a spectacular save. Either way, it turned out he was offside.

64 – Rusnák brings Chú in on the wing and Chú crosses into the area but Raúl Ruidíaz can’t get there and he goes out for a corner.

66 – Goal, Dallas. Without pressure, Jackson Ragen plays a bad pass which is recovered by Logan Farrington. He then sends a cross to Patrickson Delgado who sneaks behind the defense for an easy volley. 1-0, Dallas.

70 – Goal, Dallas. With the defense shut down, Delgado plays a relatively simple 1-2 with Peter Musa getting an open look from about eight yards out. Frei gets his hands on it but can’t stop it from entering. 2-0, Dallas.

78 – GOAL! Raúl Ruidíaz heads home a perfect cross from Albert Rusnák. 2-1, Dallas.

87 – Raúl Ruidíaz goes on goal when Paul Rothrock takes a shot. The rebounds go to Rothrock whose shot deflects off the arm of Omar Gonzalez. He goes out for a corner.

88 – GOAL! Jordan Morris rises above the defense to head under the crossbar from an Albert Rusnák corner. 2-2.

90+4 – GOAL! Jordan Morris, again. Obed Vargas plays an absolutely magnificent ball. Morris doesn’t create much separation but places his shot perfectly.

Quick thoughts

Jordan Morris is back: It’s been a strange year for Jordan Morris, but at this point it’s pretty hard to deny that he’s getting back into shape pretty well. With his brace tonight, Morris now has seven goals for the season, including six in his last seven games. Although this largely coincided with his move to 9th, it is notable that both goals came while he was playing ostensibly as a winger. At this point, where he plays is less important than how he’s used. Take him into space and let him cook.

Raúl Ruidiaz is not finished yet: After scoring his goal, Ruidíaz made quite a display by showing off his jersey while running in front of the Sounders bench. When asked about it, Schmetzer kind of laughed it off and made sure to point out that the coaches hadn’t forgotten about their all-time leading scorer. I don’t think this suddenly means Ruidíaz should start, but it does remind us that he still has something to offer. I’ll also note that this is exactly the sort of goal Ruidíaz hasn’t scored this year, coming into the box and a few minutes earlier he had been a little slow after a wonderful cross from Léo Chú.

João Paulo looks like his old self: Only a few weeks ago, João Paulo openly admitted that he was not playing up to his standards. Since then, he’s been pretty darn close. Tonight, I would say he fully was. João Paulo was everywhere in this one, completing 90 of 99 passes – including 24 entries in the final third – making nine recoveries and winning 6 of 8 duels. He also hit a shot off the post. This was as close to vintage João Paulo as we’ve seen in about two years.

Remarkable quote

Player Spotlight

Albert Rusnak: The player of the match was probably Jordan Morris. The best player was probably João Paulo. But let’s not overlook the play of Rusnák, who had the first assist on the first two goals and helped keep the game alive on the winning goal. Rusnák hasn’t been great this year, but he has nine assists and six goals in his last six games. With a little more luck, he would have scored at least one goal tonight too. Rusnák may not be the ideal number 10, but he’s certainly doing his best to look like one these days.





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