Match Data SUMMARY Seattle Sounders FC 5 - LA Galaxy 0 Saturday, August 18, 2018 Venue: Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field Referee: Mark Geiger Assistants: Frank Anderson, Mike Rottersman Fourth Official: David Gantar VAR: Younes Marrakchi Attendance: 44,213 Weather: 72 degrees and hazy sunshine SCORING SUMMARY SEA - Chad Marshall (Nicolás Lodeiro) 3’ SEA - Harry Shipp (Gustav Svensson) 18’ SEA - Servando Carrasco (own goal) 50’ SEA - Cristian Roldan (Harry Shipp, Nicolás Lodeiro) 59’ SEA - Raúl Ruidíaz 67’ MISCONDUCT SUMMARY None LINEUPS & STATS Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Kelvin Leerdam, Kim Kee-hee, Chad Marshall, Nouhou; Gustav Svensson (Alex Roldan 84’), Osvaldo Alonso - captain (Will Bruin 62’), Cristian Roldan, Nicolás Lodeiro, Harry Shipp (Victor Rodríguez 60’); Raúl Ruidíaz Substitutes not used: Bryan Meredith, Jordy Delem, Román Torres, Waylon Francis Total shots: 19 (Ruidíaz, 6) Shots on goal: 6 (Ruidíaz, 2) Fouls: 9 (Kee-hee/Lodeiro, 2) Offside: 1 (Bruin, 1) Corner-kicks: 4 (Lodeiro, 4) Saves: 5 (Frei, 5) LA Galaxy - David Bingham; Rolf Feltscher (Chris Pontius 57’), Daniel Steres, Jorden Skjelvik, Ashley Cole - captain; Sebastian Lletget (Bradford Jamieson 63’), Perry Kitchen, Servando Carrasco, Dave Romney; Ola Kamara, Emmanuel Boateng (Ariel Lassiter 73’) Substitutes not used: Justin Vom Steeg, Baggio Husidic, Tomas Hilliard-Arce, Sheanon Williams Total shots: 14 (Lassiter, 4) Shots on goal: 5 (Lassiter, 3) Fouls: 13 (Kitchen, 3) Offside: 2 (Kamara/Lassiter, 1) Corner-kicks: 4 (Lletget, 3) Saves: 2 (Bingham, 2) Post-Match Quotes SOUNDERS FC HEAD COACH BRIAN SCHMETZER On playing against a weakened Galaxy team: “Yeah, we understand the circumstances that are surrounding the Galaxy. So, that’s their issue. Sigi [Schmid] has to solve that. I’m sure he will, he’s a great coach. If you push that aside, what did we think of our performance? How did we feel about our players and what was going on out on the field? I thought well deserved two goals. We’ve talked about this – our team has started strong the first 20, 25 minutes of games here recently, and we left our foot off the gas a little bit. I think we let them back in. So, we made a couple of corrections at halftime, tried to get some adjustments made. And I think that team, again, that team did what they were supposed to do [and] did what they had to do to put the game out of reach. All the credit goes to them. They again came up with a performance. I’m not taking anything away from LA or taking anything away from our performance because I don’t really care. This is MLS. On any given day, that team that LA brought, they could’ve beat us. I mean, that’s the parity in MLS. So, we were pleased with the result, and it just pushes us three points closer to making sure that we’re in the playoffs.” On Raúl Ruidíaz getting more involved this week: “He likes scoring goals, I can tell you that. The 40 touches is a positive. We did work on that in training, specific patterns trying to get him more involved. So, we’ll continue to work on that. I threw [Will] Bruin on there in the second half again so that we could see – we’ll watch the tape – how they looked together. So, good for him for scoring. Probably could have had a couple of more. So, happy that he’s getting in the swing of things with this group of guys.” On the consistency of the defense: “You start with Stef [Frei], and that’s obviously the starting point. I always say this and I’ll continue to say this, Tommy [Dutra] does a really nice job with all of the goalkeepers. Stef, Bryan [Meredith], Calle [Brown]. Tommy’s had [Kasey] Keller, [Marcus] Hahnemann. Tommy is the constant in that particular goalkeeping position. Stef is, in my opinion, not undervalued, but he might not have the national reputation that he deserves. And then you start building up the spine and throughout the entire team. I mean, Chad [Marshall], Roman [Torres], Kim [Kee-hee], Ozzie [Alonso] and Gustav [Svensson] standing tall right in front of those center backs. Cristian [Roldan] has done that role. Kelvin’s [Leerdam] performance the last year has been really good, he’s coming on this year. The outside back situation on the left side, Nouhou is very steady defensively and Brad Smith, we got a little taste of him. Nico’s engine in that No. 10 position is not just good in the attacking side of things, but also good defensively because he covers so much ground he can close guys down. He makes it challenging for teams to create any sort of extended possession. So, I think it’s a team effort. And then the last one I’ll end with is Will has done a great job and Raúl has shown he can chase back a little bit. So, if the team believes that defense is important, that’s a good thing. We obviously have the creative players to score a few goals. So, if we can get the defending right, you don’t give up a goal, chances are you’re going to collect some points.” On setting a club record for consecutive wins: “Well, I’m very proud of the entire organization, I’ll say it like that. The team in that locker room obviously put the work in. It’s been a fairly consistent group. Harry [Shipp] did great. He scored a goal, he was rewarded today. The whole group of players – and I’m not just talking about the 18 on any given Sunday, I’m talking about the whole group of 30 guys – they all put it in. Garth [Lagerwey] does a good job, Chris [Henderson] does a good job. We’ve all been very proud of what we’ve accomplished at this club. So, for me, it’s just another statistic that you guys can discuss and digest. For us, it’s just a testament to the hard work that everybody in this organization does on a daily basis.” On the crowd noise at CenturyLink Field: “It’s an easy question for me to answer - our fans are the best. We have 40,000-plus every single game. We’ve maybe been overtaken by Atlanta by sheer numbers, but our atmosphere is one of the best in the league. And it will always continue to be that way because of the connection that these players have with the fans makes them cheer for the players, and the players actually respond to the atmosphere in the building. It’s definitely an advantage for us.” SOUNDERS FC MIDFIELDER HARRY SHIPP On his goal: “We forced a turnover and once I saw it go to Gustav [Svensson], I was just praying he’d hit first time because I knew I was going to have some time and space. Luckily, I was able to finish it off.” On scoring “easy” goals: “I knew if I took a good first touch, I was going to have time to pick out my spot. We haven’t had a ton of super easy goals, so it was nice to kind of have the time and space to think about where I wanted to place it and place it accurately.” On the team’s recent form: “We’re still fighting for a playoff spot. So, I think for us, we’ve had a run of very good games. But I think we’re not going to view it like that. We’re not going to get complacent. I think the confidence is there. Also, we’re trying to fight for as high of a playoff seed as possible. I think for us, we’ve done a pretty good job the last two months.” On whether the team was complacent early in the season: “I think it’s hard. I think the offseasons being so short, like they were for this team the last couple of years, it’s a physical grind. I think with Champions League at the beginning of this year, ideally we would have liked to have had a better start. But I do think it’s hard only having three, four weeks off and having to come back and get ready for another long season.” SOUNDERS MIDFIELDER OSVALDO ALONSO On whether this was the best win of the year: “By goals, yes.<doc-sep>The hottest team in the league is hosting an LA Galaxy side that struggles with the very concept of defense and lost their three Designated Players to injury and their MVP quality TAM signing to cowardice. This likely means that former Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid will opt into a defensive posture and attempt to absorb Seattle’s pressure for 90 minutes. Mike Gray from LAG Confidential answers Three Questions. SaH: How bad will the roster be without Zlatan? LAGC: Well, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Romain Alessadrini and the dos Santos brothers are out so there goes the attack. However back in March Sigi faced a similar situation up in Vancouver and put out a defensive 5-3-2 formation with the wingbacks instructed to stay at home. The adjustment worked; a frustrated Whitecaps failed to get on the board as LA earned a rare clean sheet. With much of the same personnel missing, we could see the 5-3-2 again on Saturday. SaH: Is the Galaxy’s success this season more dependent on Sigi or Chris Klein? LAGC: Sigi. If the former Sounders manager can repair a Galaxy back line that resembles Swiss cheese at times, LA are MLS Cup contenders with a bright 2019 ahead. SaH: Is there a defensive player who should be getting more run? LAGC: The match vs. the Caps featured a strong individual performance from Tomas Hilliard-Arce, who had several crucial clearances late to seal the road draw. It’s been disappointing the No. 2 SuperDraft pick hasn’t seen more first team minutes. LA’s back line has been subpar and the Galaxy are sure to spend on reinforcements this offseason, leading us to wonder when the three-time NCAA Champion will see the field. That being said, center back Michael Ciani is another scratch so a Hilliard-Arce sighting wouldn’t be surprising. Projected lineup: David Bingham; Ashley Cole, Jorgen Skjelvic, Daniel Steres, Dave Romney, Chris Pontius; Perry Kitchen, Servando Carrasco, Sebastian Lletget; Ola Kamara, Emmanuel Boateng SaH Projected lineup: Stefan Frei; Nouhou, Chad Marshall, Kim Kee-hee, Kelvin Leerdam; Osvaldo Alonso, Gustav Svensson; Harry Shipp, Nicolas Lodeiro, Cristian Roldan; Raul Ruidiaz<doc-sep>A few weeks ago, a LA Galaxy squad unbeaten in nine straight was probably looking forward to Saturday’s mid-day duel vs. their Cascadia rivals on national television. (1:00 PT, ESPN) Now Sigi Schmid’s side are just hoping to get out of Seattle with some kind of result. What to watch The Sounders are flying high. Winners of five in a row after narrowly defeating FC Dallas over the weekend, LA are traveling up north at the worst possible time. Playmaker Nico Lodiero has returned to top form while new Designated Player signing Raúl Ruidíaz gives the Rave Green a different look. Alessandrini, Gio, Jonathan and Ciani will all miss the Seattle game this weekend for #LAGalaxy. Sigi Schmid would not say whether @Ibra_official would make the trip — Kevin Baxter (@kbaxter11) August 16, 2018 The dos Santos brothers are injured again. Additionally Romain Alessandrini and Michael Ciani have been ruled out so don’t expect much attacking on the CenturyField turf. Speaking of turf, the odds of Zlatan skipping the match are 99.99%. LAG Confidential has been advocating for Tomas Hilliard-Arce to receive more playing time, but I’m not sure a difficult road match is the right time to thrust a rookie into the mix. Rolf Feltscher could make an appearance however. Predicted starting 11 How to Watch Date/Time: Aug 18th, 1:00 p.m. Venue: CenturyLink Field TV: ESPN Stream (outside of LA): ESPN+ Officials Referee Mark Geiger, ARs Frank Anderson, Mike Rotterdam and 4th official Dave Gantar VAR Younes Marrakchi<doc-sep>
SEATTLE — Whatever struggles the Seattle Sounders endured this year, they never seemed further removed from them than during Saturday’s 5-0 demolition of the LA Galaxy. The Sounders opened the scoring in the 3rd minute on a Chad Marshall header, added a second on an 18th minute goal from Harry Shipp and never really looked back. By the end of it, they had won their franchise-record sixth straight game, pushed their unbeaten run to nine, tied a franchise-record for largest margin of victory and, probably most importantly, moved into playoff position (even if just temporarily). It was, to put it succinctly, a very successful day at the office. Key moments There aren’t many better ways to start a match than a 3rd minute goal. Marshall’s header off a Nicolas Lodeiro cross was his second in as many games. It was also Lodeiro’s sixth straight match with a goal or an assist. Double marked and still scored. Great stuff from Marshall. Seattle 1-0 pic.twitter.com/ZR0FHPBR6s — Sounder At Heart (@sounderatheart) August 18, 2018 It only took about 15 minutes before the Sounders extended their lead, this time through Shipp, who continues to shine during this run. Gustav Svensson probably deserves the bulk of the credit on the goal, intercepting a ball and passing it to an unmarked Shipp on a volley for an absolutely wide open look. Not the best passing from LAG..... Shipp makes it 2-0 pic.twitter.com/UmqQCgVWq7 — Sounder At Heart (@sounderatheart) August 18, 2018 The Sounders did seem to let off the gas a bit at that point and nearly gave up a goal right before halftime when Sebastian Lletget picked up a stray pass from Cristan Roldan, but he shot it high. Perhaps driven by that chance, the Sounders wasted little time adding to their lead early in the second half. Lodeiro drove into the box, watched one defender fall, and then put in a centering pass that Servando Carrasco couldn’t help but deposit in his own net. In his defense, if Carrasco hadn’t gotten to it, Raúl Ruidíaz was waiting to pounce. Nico really did it to them. 3-0 Sounders pic.twitter.com/ptPrENoLdQ — Sounder At Heart (@sounderatheart) August 18, 2018 From there, the rout was on. Cristian Roldan made it 4-0, easily slotting home a pass from Shipp in the 59th minute. I think @CristianRoldan started celebrating before he even received the ball pic.twitter.com/puqeIvg8fP — Sounder At Heart (@sounderatheart) August 18, 2018 Ruidíaz finally got his goal in the 67th minute, picking off a pass near midfield, touching it a bit wide to draw out the goalkeeper and then expertly finishing inside the far post. Just so easy. Ruidiaz puts Seattle up 5-0. pic.twitter.com/SN7xkeqzUV — Sounder At Heart (@sounderatheart) August 18, 2018 Ruidíaz had the best chance to give the Sounders’ their sixth, but his open look in the 87th minute went just wide. Talking points Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’ It’s hard to overstate just how different everything about this team feels compared to a couple months ago. Sure, the Galaxy were missing all three of their Designated Players, Zlatan Ibrahimovic , and one of their best defenders, but they still had plenty of talent on the field. Certainly, they had enough to keep from getting utterly curb stomped, the way they did here. , and one of their best defenders, but they still had plenty of talent on the field. Certainly, they had enough to keep from getting utterly curb stomped, the way they did here. Before the FC Dallas match last week, the Sounders were facing a four-match stretch that seemed like it could define the season. So far, they’ve claimed six out of six possible points with a road match against the Portland Timbers and a home game against Sporting KC to round out the stretch. If they can get at least four points from those two games, grabbing a first-round bye suddenly seems very doable. Lodeiro was credited with two assists and should be credited with creating the own-goal as well. Officially, that’s now six goals and seven assists in the 13 matches since he was left off Uruguay’s World Cup roster. I’m not sure anyone is playing better than him right now. He also moved to third on the Sounders’ all-time assist leaderboard. Ruidíaz gets his Ruidíaz didn’t need to score, but man did it feel like a weight was lifted when he did.