New opponent, same problems
Sounders scoreless against la Maquina, Cementeros scoreless right back, blank canvas going back to Mexico City for second leg on Tuesday
It’s an unusually divided stadium on a cold, clear Wednesday night in Seattle. Loud and proud for the Sounders is ECS at Lumen Field’s Brougham End – and almost as loud, but just as proud, are scores of Cruz Azul diehards. Of the 27,844 fans in the stadium, most are going for the Rave Green – but it’s a close margin.
They’re watching a game that’s exciting, but it’s a game that will leave with disappointment for both sides. For the Máquina mafia, their team will have good tempo for much of the match but get stuffed any time they have a chance budding – two mediocre shots on target in the second half is all they will get. For the Emerald City faithful, it will be a familiar story: great defense, lots of chances up top, no finishing, no goals.
The Sounders flubbed good chances in the less difficult half of the round against the Cementeros – less difficult because the team was at home, but also because Cruz Azul was playing without access to several of their best players. On the bright side, Wednesday’s game broke a ten-game (all comps, including friendlies) streak without any clean sheets for the Sounders.
Is this the front XI?
For very first game against la Máquina that the Sounders’ current iteration has had, Schmetzer trotted out a set of starters that we haven’t yet seen share the pitch – but it gives good insight into what the team sees as their best squad. Cruz Azul is the one of the most challenging opponents the Sounders have faced since at least the LA Galaxy in the 2024 Western Conference Final, so it stands to reason that they would put their best guys out there. Now, it must be said that Schmetzer indicated postgame that the team has not yet figured out an exact first XI.
“We’re not quite sold on a final, final lineup. The players I put out there today were the ones that I felt were going to give us the best chance of winning the game,” Schmetzer stated.
But I still have a hunch that the lineup we saw today is something approaching what Schmetzer views as his top eleven.
In at keeper was Stef Frei, as to be expected. The backline was all the usual starters: Yeimar and Ragen as center backs, Nouhou at left back, Alex Roldan at right back. Obed and Cristian were the holding midfielders, also expected. The three offensive midfielders were Arriola at left wing, Rusnák at number 10, and Pedro as a right wing/playmaker. I personally think that trio heads the depth chart in their positions. Jordan, of course, was striker.
First half: stout Seattle defense holds back the machine
La Máquina came out of the gate strong, dominating the first fifteen minutes of possession, boxing Seattle in, and creating numerous chances. The Sounders, though not without scary moments, countered Cruz Azul’s front-heavy attack by shifting Paul Arriola around to the back line for a 5-4-1.
The most important thing that Seattle had been looking for, however, was excellent play from the defenders – and in the first half, Seattle got that. Ragen looked very solid and was probably the weakest link. Alex Roldan and Yeimar each made clutch interceptions to stop la Maquina in its tracks, with a Yeimar bicycle clearance in the 39th minute being the biggest standout. And Nouhou looked like he was exorcising his RSL demons. Multiple high-leverage clearances, close pressing of his opponents throughout the half, and some excellent turnarounds to boot. Despite maintaining possession for 59% of the half, Cruz Azul had no excellent chances or unblocked shots on target.
However, Seattle couldn’t get anything through the midfield. La Máquina stuffed even Obed Vargas, with only Pedro having the quality on the ball to try to get something going. However, even when he did get the ball, he would be working solo with no one else upfield in position to take a cross or pass from him.
The Sounders did, however, have some chances off direct transition. In the 16th, Jordan Morris got a through ball in good position to take a quick shot near the outside of the box, but instead of taking an immediate shot, Morris dribbled for two steps to try get a better shot, and by that point, a Cruz Azul defender had overtaken him. Seattle’s two best chances came off a transition in the 43rd minute: Cristian sent it to Arriola on the left side, who sent in a cross for Morris – a little forward, and Jordan couldn’t get a touch on the ball. The Sounders recovered, and scarcely a minute later, Pedro sent in a cross for Jordan. This time he got a header off – but it went over the crossbar.
Sounders more aggressive in second half, unable to finish
The tempo was very different in the back 45, but the result was the same. Clean sheets on both sides. Seattle came out of the gate much more on the front foot than in the first half, using some more offense-oriented formations and generating much more chances. But it was perhaps more frustrating: in the second half, when the machine was a little rusty and the Sounders were the better team, they couldn’t get it done.
In the 48th, the team had their first chance off a Rusnák corner kick. Cruz Azul captain Lorenzo Faravelli easily deflected the initial cross, but the ball went to Cristian, who sent in a beautiful ball to Nouhou on the right side. Nouhou headed the ball – off the top of the crossbar. Still tied.
The best chance was also, technically, not a chance. In the 51st minute, Arriola received a long ball from Rusnák high up on the left side. Cruz Azul keeper Kevin Mier intercepted the ball, but it caromed off his foot directly to Pedro de la Vega, who had an open shot on target that he easily sunk. But the flag went up – Arriola had been slightly offside. Still tied.
In the 70th, Seattle yet again almost broke the tie – but yet again came up short. Cristian Roldan slid into the ball and sent it to Jordan Morris, who broke away from the left side. He had to send a left-footer towards the goal, but he flubbed the shot a little bit, and it dribbled towards the goal for a second or two before bouncing off the right post.
After that moment, the Sounders didn’t produce quite as good of a chance for the rest of the match. However, they maintained control of the flow of the game, not giving Cruz Azul the ability to get a chance to win. However, both teams began to break down as time wore on, with cohesion dropping and potentially bad mistakes increasing. The Cementeros managed two shots on net, both relatively slow and from long distance, both of which Stef Frei gobbled up without issue.
The match ended: 0-0.
Pedro solid for 66 minutes, subs less so
Pedro de la Vega, although he didn’t have a goal (aside from one called back due to Arriola being offside), played extremely well while he was on the pitch for the game’s first 66 minutes. He had the misfortune of playing mostly in the first half when Cruz Azul was stronger – when Cruz Azul could effectively isolate him from his teammates. In the second half, after his non-goal, he began to lose some of his edge and energy.
He came off in the 66th minute for Ferreira. I’m not entirely sure it was the best possible choice: were I in the coach’s chair, I might have subbed Ferreira on for Rusnák. This is more a fact of player interaction: Ferreira and Arriola form a more effective team when they are in adjacent spots, as we saw in the games against Antigua. With Albert still in the match, Ferreira was playing further away from Arriola, so Seattle couldn’t utilize their connection. But on the other hand, Arriola needs to build a good connection with Rusnák – he’s our starting number 10 for a good reason – and Pedro was beginning to tire.
In the 76th, Georgi Minoungou came on for Paul Arriola, and unfortunately, he looked like a downgrade on Wednesday. He wasn’t as clinical on passing, and though he began to perform one of his attacking dribbles into the box in the 87th minute, Cruz Azul defender Jesús Orozco broke it up – and that was about all Georgi did on Wednesday. He’s shown impressive flashes this year and last, but the Sounders are still looking for more consistency from him.
In the 86th, Schmetzer made his final sub, with Paul Rothrock coming in for Albert Rusnák (thus moving Ferreira to the number 10). He wasn’t super notable in his limited time on the pitch, except for a moment near the end of stoppage time when he prevented Cruz Azul forward Bryan Gamboa from getting a breakaway.
The subbing is necessary for the Sounders due to the busy schedule, but it is unfortunate when the better players must get rest in a key game such as on Wednesday. The Sounders are deep, but some elements of their depth are more consistent than others, at least for now.
Limits of Jordan Morris
As I’ve said before: Jordan Morris as a 9 is good, not great. In a game like this, where everything comes off transition and the midfield is stuffed, finishing is even more key than usual. The first half short breakaway was an example of not getting the shot off when he needed to get the shot off and losing the chance – probably his most persistent vice. He hesitated a bit in his second half breakaway, too – an earlier shot would have had an easier angle – but the error there was in the execution, not so much the decision-making, and it was a difficult angle.
Now, when it comes to the current roster, Jordan Morris is still probably the best option at 9. I’d love to see some more double 9 setups with Ferreira (or a game or two with Ferreira at sole 9) so we can explore our options, but the Sounders will probably just have to take J-Mo’s flaws alongside his strengths in 2025.
Was Arriola onside?
The offsides call on Arriola was a close one to be sure: a case where the on-pitch call is the one that’s going to stand. This angle, though possibly deceptive, makes it appear like Arriola was barely onside due to an outstretched arm on the part of Cementero defender Jorge Sánchez:
Some on the Sounders side thought the reffing favored their opponents. Alex Roldan, clearly unhappy with the ref crew, gave some thoughts on the matter after the game:
“The officiating was a bit tough today, it felt like it was one-sided,” the Sounders right back stated. “From what people have been saying, Paul looked like he was in an onside position. It could be debatable.”
However, I’m going to throw a bit of a damper on this by pointing out that the Cruz Azul fans at Lumen also seemed to take issue with the reffing. But this was perhaps a bad call.
Portland fans, take note: this is how you cheer on the road
Cruz Azul’s fans showed up and showed out on Wednesday. Several times, Lumen Field was filled with echoes of Azul, to a volume about equal to what Lumen produces when booing a non-infamous (read: Ted Unkel) ref. The Seattle fans upped their game in response, producing a “fight and win” chant quite a bit louder than what I usually hear, and noticeably louder than the preceding Azul. Now, I also think that “fight and win” is the weakest element of the ECS repertoire, but I appreciate the volume that the crowd produced. It’s the kind of energy I’d like to hear when the big rival comes in October that has sadly been missing from recent Cascadia matches.
Now comes the harder part
Good news: Seattle didn’t lose. Bad news: they didn’t win. Good news, it was 0-0, so any tie game involving goals means Seattle moves on due to away goal advantage. Bad news: Seattle has to go on the road for a Tuesday game at Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City.
Worse news: Cruz Azul will have six starters that didn’t play on Wednesday: forwards Angel Sepulveda and Georgios Giakoumakis, midfielders Carlos Rodriguez and Ignacio Rivero, left wing back Carlos Rotondi, and center back Erik Lira.
What this means is that Seattle will need to do something that has been frustratingly elusive: have the defense and offense both on their game during the same match.
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