Good enough for Antigua, will it be good enough for Cruz Azul?

The Rave Green had a solid match on Wednesday, February 26, 2025. Coming in only needing to do better than a 3-1 loss, the Sounders came away with a 3-1 win off two goals from Pedro de la Vega and another by Paul Arriola – for those keeping track, that’s three CONCACAF goals for Pepo and two for Arriola over two matches.

Seattle kept parts of the attacking style the team utilized against Charlotte FC but didn’t keep things the same either. Schmetzer mostly shied away from two in the back formations. He often opted for variations on four in the back, wherein Jordan (and later Musovski) would in the front. Sometimes he would be in a two-man formation with Pedro or Ferreira, and other times in a three-man with two of Pedro, Arriola, and Ferreira (with Georgi and Rothrock entering later on). Any 4-4-2 was a flat four. Seattle also used three in the back formations such as 3-4-3, 3-5-2, and Schmetzer’s classic 3-2-5.

The Sounders rested a few players going into the match and took some more out mid-game. Jon Bell got the start at left back – and in the second half moved to center back when Nouhou came in for Yeimar. Obed Vargas, Cristian Roldan, and Albert Rusnák all got the entire day off. JP and Danny Leyva were the two sixes for the night, while Ferreira and later Pedro slotted in at attacking midfielder.

Grass is green: Sounders go ahead, give up lead in first half

Seattle, as so often happens, held tempo for an entire half but came away without an advantage. In 2024, this happened in one of two ways: one, the Sounders kept a clean sheet in the back but couldn’t finish in the final third; or two, the Sounders drove a ball into the back of the net only to let an equalizer through after give or take the fortieth minute. Option one was the more common malady in 2025; this season, it looks like option two is the poison of choice – though not without some missed opportunities up front.

The half began with a promising chance: Jesús Ferreira dumped a long ball onto Paul Arriola, who was charging up the left wing. Arriola crossed it in for Morris but overshot slightly, and then the ball caromed to Danny Leyva, who launched it at the goal – and right at Antigua defender Kevin Grijalva. In the tenth minute, Leyva sent Jordan Morris an excellent though ball, which Jordan Morris in on-mode would have then knocked towards the net. However, Jordan wasn’t on his game tonight – only playing one half due to visible exhaustion – and so he lost the ball. Antigua didn’t pick it up, giving the Sounders more opportunity, which Ferreira used to send a curler towards the top right corner – and a couple yards high and outside for a miss.

It was in the twenty-fourth minute when the Sounders found the back of the net. Leyva sent a ball to Alex, who sent it to Jordan, who tried to run in but got chased away and then passed it to Pedro. The Argentinian took a shot that bounced off Grijalva and back to him. Then, he knocked a left-footer past keeper Luis Moran and into the left corner. Seattle Sounders 1, Antigua GFC 0.

And then came possibly the Sounders’ worst habit: falling back with a lead. Now, it was really a three-goal lead in the aggregate, but one of the cardinal rules in footy – really, any sport – is that you put games away when you can. But Seattle fell back and turned on the autopilot for much of the remainder of the first half. It wasn’t among the more atrocious examples – Jackson Ragen was in a perfect position to score in the 45^th but booted his point-blank shot over the crossbar – but it clearly fit the unfortunate trend.

Predictably, this came back to bite the Sounders. In the first minute of first half stoppage, Cristian Hernandez saw an opportunity from near midfield and sent a long ball to two open teammates downfield: José Galvéz and Juan Apaolaza. Galvéz got to the ball first, only a yard or so from the line, and whipped the ball into the left side of the net. The goal was initially ruled offside but that call was overturned on VAR. Tie game.

What we’re looking for: the second half

As evidenced by the top line, the Sounders played a better game in the second half. The defense played more clinically while the team was able to finish twice in the box. Seattle benefited from the fact that the series grew increasingly out of reach for Antigua as the back half wore on.

Schmetzer subbed in Danny Musovski for Jordan Morris to start the half. A rested Musovski for an exhausted Jordan Morris wasn’t anything more than a lateral move, but JMo definitely needed the rest. The Rave Green’s first big opportunity came off a 52^nd minute ball from JP to Alex on the right side, which Alex headed into the box for Musovski. Luis Moran jumped up and put a paw on the ball, then Musovski circled back around and whipped a shot off – over the crossbar.

A minute later, Arriola sent Ferreira a through ball up the left side. Ferreira drove down almost to the endline, then passed it – through the legs of Antigua midfielder Jose Rosales – back to Arriola, who tapped it into the right side of the net. 2-1 Sounders lead.

After that point, Seattle had control over the game. Luis Moran several times single-handedly prevented the Sounders from going up further – such as his diving grab of a 76^th minute Pepo through ball to Georgi – but there was nothing he could do to make up the three goals needed to get his team to the next round. His frustration was evident throughout the half, coming to a head when was given a yellow card for grabbing Pedro by the collar after a 58^th minute chase down into the upper right corner.

Schmetzer made several substitutions during the course of the half, starting in the 57^th minute when he took out Arriola and Yeimar for Rothrock and Nouhou. In the 74^th, Minoungou came on for Ferreira and Pedro took over the no. 10 spot. Eight minutes later, Alex Roldan was subbed out for Kalani Kossa-Rienzi.

The game ended with an positive flourish: in the 88^th, JP intercepted the ball from Antigua and immediately sent it through the field for Pedro, who dribbled forward and then knocked it past Moran’s front foot into the left side of the net.

Final match score: Sounders 3, Antigua 1. Final round score: 6-2.

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Brace for Pedro; MLS, brace for Pedro?

The obvious standout performance was Pedro de la Vega. After his 2024 campaign first got plagued by injuries and then failed to start during his limited minutes in the fall, Wednesday’s game was finally a smooth tonic. He scored twice, once in each half, and showed off his versatility by playing well both as a playmaking wing and as a no. 10. He went 44/47 on passing accuracy (97%) and took five shots, four of which were on target.

There do still remain some questions – for one, consistency. These two goals were the first Pedro has ever scored in Lumen Field, but it still remains to be seen whether he can stay healthy for an entire year and whether he can stay on his game for an entire year. For two, positioning. The team initially brought him in as a possible replacement for Nico Lodeiro at no. 10, and while he certainly showed strong ability in that position, Albert Rusnák spent 2024 turning into a solid producer up top – and he’s a consistently good player, something Pedro hasn’t yet shown in Seattle. However, Pedro’s ability to move all around the pitch when placed in the wing opens an obvious solution: keep Albert as a classic number 10 and slot Pedro in the same playmaking wing role he played on Wednesday.

The other remaining question is about the unfinished-ness of Pedro de la Vega at the current moment: “Pedro’s last little bit of learning curve has to be that was it takes to win MLS Cup [and] what it takes to win what is now the CCC, is a little bit more discipline in the way he plays,” Schmetzer said postgame. “He’s got to do better in certain moments: the little flicks over the head by the sideline, and then the other team comes down and scores – that stuff has to stop.”

But despite a few things to improve on, Pepo is beginning to look like the player the Sounders wanted when they signed him.

I’m liking these Dallas guys

Arriola and Ferreira showed a strong connection in the first leg in Guatemala, and that connection continued on Wednesday in the second leg. The goal in the 53^rd minute immediately comes to mind, but the pair had the same kind of quick-passing connection for all the minutes they were together on the pitch. Though Ferreira was slotted in at number 10 and Arriola on the wing, the duo swapped locations a few times, including on their goal.

Although Paul Arriola is the one with the best top-line stats, Jesús Ferreira has also been productive. He has a good ability to think quickly on passing and crossing, excellent skills for his role as a no. 10. On Wednesday, he ended up with a 44/50 (88%) passing accuracy and 2 crosses out of 4 being accurate, both near the top out of all players in the match.

Depth piece showcase

We saw a fair amount of people who haven’t seen a whole lot of playing time yet. Danny Leyva and JP in the midfield have previously taken a backseat to Cristian Roldan and Obed Vargas, but Wednesday’s game showed that both backups are excellent in their role. Leyva’s stats reflect a great game: 113 touches, 83/96 (86%) on passing accuracy and 4/6 on long ball accuracy. Meanwhile, JP put together a JP classic, delivering quite a few excellent balls to his teammates and effortlessly forming the midfield glue. The stats bear this out: 96 touches, 80/84 (95%) on passing accuracy, and 5/6 on long ball accuracy. It’s a testament to Obed Vargas’ meteoric rise that JP isn’t at the top of the depth chart.

On the attack, the team cycled between their collection of attackers, though Georgi and Rothrock weren’t much to write home about. Neither was Danny Musovski, who played a full half at striker but wasn’t especially impressive, unable to produce a shot on target. On defense, Jon Bell got the start and played well enough, both as a left back early in the game and as a center back after Nouhou came on. Kalani Kossa-Rienzi subbed in for Alex Roldan in the 82^nd, though there weren’t really any positive or negative indications in his less than ten minutes of play.

Yes, we have two keepers

Andrew Thomas got the start today, and it was clear from his performance that he’s in good shape to become the team’s starting keeper whenever Father Time finally catches up to Stef Frei. He had two diving saves – one in the 30^th minute off a long scorcher from Jose Rosales and the other in the 61^st minute off a roller from Robinson Flores. Thomas played well when the Sounders tapped him for US Open Cup games in 2024, and it looks like he will play well when the Sounders need him this year. Now, Frei is still one of the best keepers in MLS, but it doesn’t hurt to have options when a team is as busy as the Sounders are.

But where are the clean sheets?

A worrying trend in recent Seattle play has developed out of somewhere that has previously been rock-solid: the defense. Wednesday’s game was the ninth straight, including friendlies, where Seattle has not kept a clean sheet. This is certainly an unusual streak considering that this is a squad that put together the best goals against in all MLS in 2024, and the defensive starters this year are the same as they were last year: Nouhou in left back, Yeimar and Ragen as center backs, and Alex Roldan in right back.

Part of it has to do with letting teams come back, surely. In Wednesday’s game, this was the issue, since outside of Antigua’s goal, the back line did a fine job without any truly sloppy moments. But in other games, there is often a link in the chain that breaks down: a set of awful blunders from Ragen against Charlotte is the glaring recent example. As far as a reason for this shift, I couldn’t give it to you at this point. But it’s something to keep an eye on.

The gauntlet

The Sounders have made it to the Round of 16 in this year’s CONCACAF Champions Cup. Antigua Guatemala, despite the final 6-2 line, were not pushovers, but the Sounders’ next opponents will be the real challenge. First comes La Maquina: Cruz Azul. They finished the 2024-25 Apertura at 13 wins, 1 loss, and 3 draws, combining for 42 points – topping the Apertura regular season. Although they got knocked out by América, the winners of the playoff, they are still a formidable team, and are now 5-2-2 to start the Clausura. Against Real Hope, La Maquina ran up a combined 7-0, and now face Seattle in the Round of 16.

What’s worse for Seattle, Cruz Azul have an old bogeyman on their squad: Mateusz Bogusz. In seven games all-comps against the Sounders, the former LAFC forward has three goals and an assist.

What all this means for the Sounders: keep up the offensive production, and most importantly clean the sheets. There was some breathing room against Antigua, there won’t be against Cruz Azul.

And suppose Seattle bests Cruz Azul? It’s then either América or las Chivas de Guadalajara. Given Guadalajara’s recent rut, it would probably be América: the winners of the Apertura playoff, who now have a 6-1-2 record and a +13 differential in the Clausura.

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