When a draw feels more like a loss

MLS is so fucking back. The Seattle Sounders treated Charlotte FC to some Seattle sunshine in their opening match of the 2025 MLS season. The Sounders entered the match on a high after a crucial 3-1 away win in Guatemala in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The Sounders kick off their campaign with a 2-2 draw thanks to a Jordan Morris brace for Seattle and, goals from Adilson Malanda, and a stoppage-time Yeimar own goal for Charlotte. The Sounders nearly had the exact same lineup as they did against Antigua GFC, except for the FC Dallas boys and Pedro de la Vega, who were replaced by Georgi Minoungou, Paul Rothrock, and Albert Rusnák. I personally expected more rotation, considering they have four matches in twelve days, but the starting eleven made sense based on how Charlotte lined up.

“Well, two points dropped, it’s a loss ... it’s a sloppy play by the top two centrebacks in the league... individual mistakes happen, they’ve won us a lot of games, but they could have done better at that moment."

The Sounders started the game red HOT. They came out the gates ready to attack and got stuck into tackles, although to Nouhou’s detriment, who got booked literally a minute into the game. The front three of Paul Rothrock, Jordan Morris, and Georgi Minoungou were dynamic and made great supporting runs. The midfield immediately took control of the game and did not let their feet off the gas. That intensity continued into the 19th minute when Georgi got the ball after an Obed Vargas interception. Obed swung the ball out wide to Georgi on the wing, and he whipped in a cross to the near post, where Jordan Morris made one of the most intelligent runs from an MLS striker I’ve seen in a long while and hit it home to take the lead in the 19th minute. The Sounders kept the pressure on and looked like the dominant side until the 30th minute.

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After a good spell of possession and a couple of chances themselves, Charlotte got the equalizer in the 35th minute. Pep Biel sent a bullet into the box, and the big man, Adilson Malanda, powered through the box to put a staggering header into the back of the net, leveling the game at 1-1. The Sounders still had most of the momentum from there but didn’t produce any solid chances. Alex Roldan had the best look in the 43rd minute, pulling up to shoot from distance, forcing Kahlina to push away with a diving save.

Of course, it had to be him. Jordan Morris popped up with another goal to secure his brace four minutes after the second half, this time getting on the end of a perfect through ball from Albert Rusnák that split three defenders. Morris timed his run perfectly as he beat the back line before getting a shot off from just inside the box that Kahlina was able to get a touch on, but it wasn’t enough to keep the ball out as it bounced into the back of the net, giving the Sounders a 2-1 lead.

Charlotte applied some pressure and gave the Seattle defense a few scares, but the Sounders kept control of the game. As we got to the business end of the match, Brian Schmetzer made a few substitutions to see out the final minutes, but despite producing some solid chances, the Sounders could not close out the game. Instead holding out and securing the win, there appeared to be a lapse in concentration that proved disastrous. Then came the Charlotte equalizer in the 2nd minute of stoppage time. A semi- controversial Charlotte throw resulted in Dean Smith’s side gaining possession, allowing Kahlina to hit a long ball that Jackson Ragen allowed to bounce before trying to head it to Cristian Roldan. Instead of finding a teammate, the ball bounced off Charlotte striker Idan Gurno and fell right back to Ragen. Instead of doing the sensible thing and utilizing his second chance to clear the ball, Ragen attempted to pass it back to Frei but completely botched it, allowing Gurno to jet off down the sideline. Ragen gave chase but couldn’t catch up due to lack of pace to prevent a cross, which Yeimar attempted to cut out, and, instead, headed the ball past Frei and into the back of the net.

The Sounders tried to find a third goal, but as the clock continued to tick down, they could not find the winner they were looking for. Even though they were better team for 90% of the game, the Sounders settled for a draw. Now, they must turn their attention to the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup tie with Antigua GFC on Wednesday night. The Sounders go into the tie 3-1 up on aggregate and should expect to move on to the next round bar a disasterclass. But based on what we saw in the last game and a half, the Sounders should be more than okay.

Cristian was quietly cooking

Since moving back into the center of the park last year, Cristian Roldan has quietly been one of the best CM/CDMs in the league. On Saturday, despite not contributing a goal or assist, he completed 88 of 96 passes (92%), created the second most chances out of anyone on the pitch (3), had the most touches for the Sounders (114), and won the most duels (11) out of everyone on the pitch. Had it not been for Jordan Morris’s brace, Cristian could have had a shout for MOTM.

I know it’s barely the first game of the season, but if he keeps this up, he should be a lock for the MLS All-Star game and, hopefully, MLS Best XI by the end of the year.

Can we please hold a lead at home?

After we conceded that late equalizer, I got to wondering, how often we have seen this from the Sounders at Lumen. It’s not like it’s a very common occurrence, but it’s happened just enough to start taking notice. Luckily for me, someone else already pulled up some data. Shout out to Twitter user @SorryImAnonymo1.

Since the start of 2024, we’ve led by 1 goal in the 85th minute at Lumen Field 6 times. We’ve gone on to win exactly 1 of those

-vs COL (1-1)

-vs VAN (1-1)

-vs RSL (1-1)

-vs SJ (2-2)

-vs HOU (1-0)

-vs CLT (2-2)

I’m sure we can go even further back, which I will do at some point, to see if it’s happening more often than not. The Sounders defense is still the best in the league by a mile, and there is absolutely no reason to panic, but it’s still something we should keep our eye on.

Jordan Morris on the Brink of making Sounders History

“For a local guy to persevere, come through and now share that record… it’s a tremendous achievement by Jordan“

It’s no secret that I am a certified Jordan Morris hater. I’m not going to lie or deny it. Unfortunately, he is out here trying to prove me and all other haters wrong. He’s put in the work and consistently put up numbers every season. He deserves all the praise he’s getting right now. Despite the two best center-backs in MLS doing their best not to secure the win, Jordan Morris scored a brace in the season opener against the second-best keeper in the league. On top of all that, with the brace, he has officially tied Raul Ruidiaz’s all-time goal-scoring record with 86. Undoubtedly, he will break it this season. Hell, he may even break it next week. As much as it pains me to admit, there is a very strong chance he will make it to the 100 mark by the end of the season. We’ll just have to see if he can keep his form and just let angry Jordan Morris come out to play. With that said, I don’t believe he will go down as the Sounders’ best-ever striker; he will surely be their best-ever goal-scorer.

With it being the first game of the season, I told myself that I had to resist the urge to come out and spew some stupid takes for shits and giggles (too late for that). At the end of the day, the overall play from the Sounders was miles better than some of the stuff we saw last year, and we, as fans, should be happy with what we saw on the pitch. Let’s just hope for even more as the season progresses.

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