No JP, No Problem!

The Sounders continue their strong start to the season with another commanding win against first-place St. Louis CITY SC. Goals from Atencio, Raul, and an own goal secured the win.

Here’s the match review!

Match Review

The visitors made the game challenging, but ultimately Seattle proved too much as the goals overflowed in the second half, and Seattle won 3-0. The win moves the Sounders clear into first place in the West with 16 points and a +12 goal difference through 7 games.

They still need to keep an eye on what’s happening behind them as LAFC secures another win and has a game in hand.

The first half had plenty of physical play and a handful of quality chances for both sides. The best chance of the half probably belonged to the visitors as Nicholas Gioacchini got to the end line and found João Klauss on the doorstep, but the forward’s shot hit the outside of the near post and went out.

The second half was broadly similar for the first 20 minutes; the game was back and forth as both teams created a couple of chances. Then came the 65th minute. Josh Atencio changed everything. After taking a couple of shots earlier to find his range, Atencio received a perfect layoff from Nico Lodeiro outside the box and unleashed a banger to beat St. Louis’s goalkeeper Roman Bürki.

https://twitter.com/brfootball/status/1644919943547297792?s=46&t=7OafHZpwfECzwqgUMfgQSg

A few minutes later, it was Raúl Ruidíaz adding to the scoreline with his first goal of the season. Ruidíaz capitalized on an error from Bürki as the GK let a cross from Alex Roldan slip through his hands, and Ruidíaz finished from inside the 6-yard box.

https://twitter.com/soundersfc/status/1644916126537908226?s=46&t=7OafHZpwfECzwqgUMfgQSg

Seattle got another in the 89th minute when a dangerous Lodeiro corner led to an STL own goal.

Post Match Thoughts

Atencio is the Future

Already arguably the best player on the field, Atencio took a pass from Nicolas Lodeiro in the 65th minute and launched it, beating a rooted Roman Bürki and announcing his presence in style. It was Atencio’s first MLS goal and first goal at any level since 2019, his first entire season as a professional.

Atencio’s ball-winning and calmness on the ball were on display through much of the match, mainly as St. Louis City’s pressing and physicality caused the Sounders some trouble in the first half. The 21-year-old led all players with 22 duels — winning nine — and seven interceptions while winning three tackles and 15 recoveries.

Schmetz on Atencio starting over JP:

“JP was just precautionary, we were just holding him out,” “Josh took total advantage of the opportunity. He struggled a bit in the first half, but in the second half, the kid turned it around and had one hell of a half. I don’t usually do what I did for younger players, subbing him off to let the crowd applaud, but I did because of the quality of that goal.”

Lumen Field is a Fortress

The Seattle Sounders have made being hard to beat at home a stated goal for this season as part of their effort to put 2022 and the season’s failures behind them.

They’ve been undeniably successful in that endeavor, as they’ve given up zero goals at Lumen Field through four games, with three wins and a scoreless draw against LAFC. Those four shutouts mean the team has already equaled their total of home shutouts from last season.

On to the Next

The Sounders have been in great form all season, and it’s all leading to this; the first match against the little brothers, the Portland Timbers. They have been god-awful all season and don’t look like they’re improving. Our chances have improved significantly, with Eryk Williamson tragically going down with another ACL tear.

https://twitter.com/tombogert/status/1645834573870137349?s=46&t=7OafHZpwfECzwqgUMfgQSg

Regardless, we should win comfortably at Providence Park like we always do. However, no many how good or how bad either team is doing, you know it’s going to be an absolute fucking good time.