Sounders at Whitecaps, recap: Cascadia chaos
The Seattle Sounders made the trip up to B.C. Place, a stadium they hadn’t won in since September 2018, to face the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night. They head back to Seattle with all three points thanks to a come-from-behind victory that included a Léo Chú brace and a stoppage-time winner from Yeimar.
The first half was a frustrating one. Seattle had the bulk of possession, using Alex Roldan and Léo Chú to spread the ball and pose a threat from both sides of the field. Vancouver created more chances from their limited possession though, capitalizing on a set piece from Ryan Gauld that was capped off by a header from centerback Ranko Veselinović. A curling effort from Sebastian Berhalter drew a spectacular save from Stefan Cleveland, and some lucky bounces kept the score close for Seattle.
The Sounders had a couple of shouts for a penalty late in the first half, and were maybe unlucky not to get one. First, Raúl Ruidíaz clearly felt he deserved one as he ran onto a rebound from a João Paulo shot as he took some hard contact from a defender after the ball was cleared. On the ensuing corner, two Vancouver players clearly made contact with the ball with their arms, but the referee ruled that both were effectively “within the silhouette” and VAR didn’t disagree.
Things looked like they may have turned around for Seattle in the second half as the team piled on the pressure and eventually found their goal in the 60th minute. A Nico Lodeiro corner found the head of Jackson Ragen. Ragen flicked the corner across goal to Léo Chú, who connected with his thigh to lift the ball over the Vancouver goalkeeper to level the score. Just 10 minutes later, Seattle were pushing for a second goal, with Albert Rusnák having a go after dribbling into the box, but he couldn’t dial in his effort, and on the following goal kick Brian White flicked the ball on to Ryan Gauld. His run split Ragen and Alex Roldan before he put his shot in the back of the net. Seattle came back to tie the game up again in the 76th minute, once again from a set piece that saw the ball go from Lodeiro’s foot to Ragen’s head and into the goal with a final touch from Chú.
Vancouver went down to 10 men in the waning moments of regulation time after Mathias Laborda was shown his second yellow for taking out Chú. From the free kick for the foul, the Sounders passed the ball around and Rusnák eventually found Chú making a dangerous run with a lovely chipped ball. Chú forced Takaoka into a save, but the rebound came out towards the penalty spot and set up perfectly for Yeimar to hammer into the back of the net to give Seattle their first lead of the game! Seattle hung on for the final few minutes of stoppage, ultimately claiming their first road win since the 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo on May 13 and the team’s first win at B.C. Place since September 15, 2018.
Key moments
3’ — The Sounders get out on a dangerous seeming breakaway, but the attack fizzles as Nouhou looks off a run from Léo Chú to dribble into pressure and play a cross to no one.
17’ — Seattle’s first real look comes after several minutes of sustained possession and pressure, but Nico Lodeiro’s header from the penalty spot goes wide of goal.
18’ — Stefan Cleveland with a HUGE save, going full Inspector Gadget to tip a curling effort out for a corner kick.
24’ — The Whitecaps open the scoring, as centerback Ranko Veselinović heads home a Ryan Gauld free kick while Nouhou trails behind him. 1-0 Vancouver
34’ — A couple of close chances for Vancouver off of a corner, first a diving header hits the post, then a follow-up shot is blocked and cleared out.
37’ — Raúl Ruidíaz goes close with a snap header off of a great cross from Alex Roldan, but Vancouver GK Yohei Takaoka gets down well to smother the effort.
42’ — João Paulo drills an effort on goal that’s blocked by the ‘keeper. Ruidíaz runs in for the rebound and suffers a stiff challenge on the clearance from the defender but no penalty.
50’ — João Paulo dribbles through the bulk of Vancouver’s defense, riding challenges as he enters the area, but his eventual shot goes out for a goal kick.
60’ — The Sounders score on a set piece of their own! Léo Chú has the final touch to beat Takaoka after Jackson Ragen flicks on Lodeiro’s corner to level the score! 1-1
71’ — Albert Rusnák has a look after driving into the box with runners to his left, but his shot is out for a goal kick.
72’ — Immediately after Rusnák’s effort, the Whitecaps are down at the other end and Ryan Gauld splits Ragen and Roldan and beats Cleveland. 2-1 Vancouver
76’ — Tied again! This time on a free kick, João Paulo touched it to Lodeiro, who found Ragen at the back post. Ragen nodded the ball across for Léo Chú to put away. 2-2
82’ — Cleveland makes another big save, this time denying Brian White from close range by diving to his right to keep the score even.
90’ +1 — IN STOPPAGE TIME, WITH VANCOUVER DOWN TO 10, YEIMAR GIVES SEATTLE THE LEAD! 3-2
Quick thoughts
Léo Chú is Brazilian Portuguese for “efficiency”: Léo Chú is in the midst of an undeniable breakout season. With injuries and absences, he’s been called upon to be a focal point of the attack, and he’s come through with three goals and eight assists in just under 1,300 minutes. He’s averaging 0.76 G+A per 90 so far this season, a pretty solid clip. He was outrageously efficient against Vancouver, with a brace on three total shots, and his third shot forced the save that fell to Yeimar for the game-winning goal. He’s not always efficient — his skillset and how he’s been used in the last few months has yielded a lot of runs and crosses that don’t turn into anything other than disappointment and near misses — but his production so far can’t be denied.
What a difference having a Roldan makes: It’s been pretty easy to draw the connection between Seattle’s struggles this season to Cristian Roldan’s absence. The team has picked up results here and there, they’ve even shown flashes of the team that dominated the early part of the season but struggled to consistently find the back of the net for one reason or another and as a result they haven’t been able to put together a solid run of games. The elder Broldan came back for the Charlotte game and immediately Seattle looked more like themselves, and then he was immediately swooped up by the USMNT for the Gold Cup. At the same time, Alex Roldan was away playing with El Salvador in a couple of friendlies and then the Gold Cup as well. While Cristian is still on international duty, Alex returned with El Salvador having been eliminated, and his quality was clearly on display as his presence on the wing allowed Seattle to take a much more balanced approach against Vancouver. Cody Baker, who has largely filled in for Roldan at right back and done so admirably, simply doesn’t have the experience or attacking quality at this point of the El Salvador international. While Roldan didn’t directly contribute to any of the goals, his presence and Seattle’s use of him down the right forced the Whitecaps to pay more attention to that side and ultimately created more space for everyone else to operate in. It’s good to have a Roldan on the field again, and I, for one, can’t wait to have another.
Inhale... and exhale: Feel the tension leave your body. Focus on your breathing, notice as your body becomes more relaxed. Breathe in and hold it for a five-count. Now breathe out. That game was stressful for all 97 minutes, but it sure feels good now that it’s done. When Vancouver scored in the 24th minute, the broadcast showed a stat that the Sounders had gone 1-6-0 in games when they gave up the first goal. They hadn’t won back-to-back games since they beat the LA Galaxy on the road and St. Louis CITY FC at home in April. That win over St. Louis was the last time the team had won while scoring multiple goals, as well. They hadn’t won in Vancouver since 2018. But all of that’s in the past, because the Whitecaps just got Yeimared. It feels good. It should feel good. The team fought hard, and they ground out that win. That’s what good teams do, and despite how frustrating the last few months have been this team is good. They’re only going to get better. It’s okay to breathe.
Did you see that?!?
The goals were good, but this save was special!
Truly one of the best saves of the season so far #VANvSEA | #Sounders pic.twitter.com/dxuTuY0DdV — Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) July 9, 2023
He said what?!?
No one knows what it means, but it’s provocative. It gets the people going!
"Time is a figure of speech" - Brian Schmetzer — Jeremiah Oshan (@JeremiahOshan) July 9, 2023
One stat to tell the tale
14 — The Sounders now have 14 road points, three more than they had all of last season.
Source: Sounder At Heart
