Two western conference foes jockeying for playoff positions, six total goals, comebacks from both sides, and a pivotal VAR decision in stoppage time of the second half. Friday night’s primetime match-up between the visiting Seattle Sounders and the hosts LA Galaxy had just about everything a neutral fan could ask for in terms of excitement and thrill as a viewer without a rooting interest. But for the Sounders faithful, the boys in rave green were only able to yield a single point despite a herculean three-goal effort in the second half. While this affair down the I-5 in Southern California marked the second consecutive “six-pointer” in a row where Seattle failed to capture the full three points, there were still plenty of takeaways, both positive and negative, from the 42nd all-time MLS meeting between two of the most historically successful clubs in league history.
The match did not start out on the right foot for the Sounders, who went down a goal early in the 10th minute when Javier Hernández received a ball from teammate Kevin Cabral before taking a brief touch and firing it past Stefan Frei to open the game’s scoring with relative ease, despite Seattle having three center-backs to anchor their backline. Chicharito’s tally marked the seventh time in the last 10 games that Brian Schmetzer’s squad has conceded the game’s opening goal. The boys in rave green have gone 1-1-5 across those seven contests, with the only win coming at home against the Colorado Rapids back in July. Matters were only made worse for the visitors in the 42nd minute when Víctor Vázquez doubled the Galaxy’s lead after whipping in a ball from the right-wing area that found its way above Stefan Frei’s outstretched hand but stayed just underneath the crossbar to make it 2-0 for the hosts. “Giving up a couple of goals and we come in at halftime, regroup, they’re all kind of chattering in the locker room at halftime because they knew they played well,” said Schmetzer. “They knew they played well in spurts and moments of that first half.”
Whatever discussions and adjustments made by the visitors in the halftime break certainly seemed to pay dividends. One of the more noticeable changes was the advancement of Kelyn Rowe and Alex Roldan higher up the field, establishing both players as hybrid wing-backs rather than solely defenders. Kelyn Rowe made the most out of his opportunity in the 53rd minute, when the Federal Way native hit a curling ball into the top corner of the net to cut the deficit in half. The MLS veteran of a decade has served as a valuable asset for Schmetzer and staff since joining his hometown team in the offseason preceding the 2021 season, but Rowe was pleased not just with the opportunity to score, but with the impact it would have on the remainder of the match. “It’s always a good feeling to score goals. The fact that we were able to get that goal and start the comeback is incredible,” said Rowe. “As a wing-back, it’s a little bit different than playing left-back. Raúl played a great ball in and I was able to finish it. It was a great feeling and I’m glad that it started the comeback.”
Seattle continued dialing up the pressure throughout the second half, looking more and more like the Sounders team that became CONCACAF Champions League this past spring. After Albert Rusnák had a rough spell of bad luck when two long-range efforts were kept out of the LA goal by the woodwork in quick succession, the visitors regained the ball and maintained possession in the Galaxy’s half, before Nicolás Lodeiro whipped in a cross from the lefthand area for Raúl Ruidíaz to head into the back of the net to equalize the game at two goals a piece in the 61st minute. Kelyn Rowe spoke to his team’s success in remaining persistent in the aforementioned sequence. “I think there are sequences in every game that we have that where we keep the ball in (the attacking half),” said Rowe. “This time I think it was Nouhou that came through, won the ball, and kept us in the attacking half. It’s a great ball by Nico, a great finish by Raúl, but it’s those kind of moments we have every game. We do try and build on those because that’s what great teams have.”
Seattle completed their triumphant comeback in the 73rd minute when Yeimar Gómez Andrade’s header was stopped by Jonathan Bond before Jordan Morris pounced on the rebound to put the Sounders up 3-2. This tally marked Seattle’s third goal in the span of 20 minutes in the second half and it also marked the Sounders’ first three-goal game since hosting Sporting Kansas City about two months ago, which was certainly encouraging for fans, players, and coaches alike to witness after the boys in rave green had a difficult time registering goals through the month of July and the first half of August. While the visitors were now in the driver’s seat and completed their first two-goal comeback of the 2022 regular season, there was still a quarter-hour left to be played against a squad in the LA Galaxy that have outscored their opponents 13-2 after the 80th minute across all regular season matches this year. Brian Schmetzer introduced Jackson Ragen and Josh Atencio to serve as fresh legs and defensive reinforcements in an effort to preserve the precious one-goal lead that his team fought so hard to attain.
Unfortunately for the Sounders, their efforts to leave Dignity Health Sports Park with the full three points would fall just short in the dying minutes of the game. After no call for a handball in the 18-yard box was initially given by Victor Rivas, VAR was utilized and came to the conclusion that the ball clipped off of Xavier Arreaga’s arm in front of his goal, thus overturning the call and awarding the LA Galaxy a penalty kick. Dejan Joveljić made no mistake in converting the kick from the spot in the 92nd minute, re-leveling the game at three goals per side and ending the match as a 3-3 draw at the final whistle. Much was made by many Seattle fans regarding the penalty kick opportunity that the Galaxy was gifted after Victor Rivas notably spent several long minutes at the monitor before his final verdict, citing frustration and confusion regarding whether there was clear and obvious evidence to reverse the original call. Brian Schmetzer weighed in with his thoughts on the sequence after the game. “By the letter of the law, they got it right,” Schmetzer admitted. “But the problem with the law is that if you look behind Xavi when the ball hit his arm, his arm wasn’t moving towards the ball. We had two defenders there so even if the ball would have gone past Xavi, there would have been something, our guys would have cleaned it up. There was no Galaxy player behind him, so there was no real negating of the advantage so to speak, but by letter of the law, that’s a handball.”
While there are two ways that Friday night’s result can be viewed: one way being that the Sounders gained a point and the other way being that the Sounders dropped two points, Kelyn Rowe views the outcome as a mixed bag. “We’re very happy that we were able to in one half create so many chances, score the goals, and be able to come back. That’s good resiliency from this team,” said Rowe. “However, it’s the last 10 minutes of the game, we’re fighting for the balls, we’re fighting for everything, and we’re not getting what we need out of this. If you win these games late especially, the morale goes higher (and) you get those three points. So we dropped two points, however you’ve got to remember that we did come back from a 2-0 deficit.” Brian Schmetzer’s immediate thoughts after the game seemed to look at the glass as half-full rather than half-empty. “I couldn’t be any prouder of the group,” said Schemtzer. “I think the group still has fight. They’re emotionally resilient, there’s a bunch of strong characters in there, they didn’t give up at halftime, and my opinion I’m sure is selfish and biased, but I think we should have won the game.”
While the Sounders snapped their two-game losing streak on Friday night, there’s still plenty of work to be done for Seattle, who are only above the playoff line for the time being due to a total wins tiebreaker over their Cascadia rivals Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers, the latter of which they play in the Rose City next Friday night. The upcoming Cascadia clash will also mark the fourth and final matchup against a western conference rival for the month of August. The Sounders have tallied one win, one loss, and one draw across the first three matches of “Six-Pointer August.” But with Raúl Ruidíaz coming back to full strength and the likes of Danny Leyva stepping up in recent weeks, Brian Schmetzer is confident in his squad. “I have complete confidence in that group of players,” said Schmetzer. “I think there’s enough freshness within the group. So I’m positive that even after what feels like another gut punch, I think we’re a resilient group and I think we can come through it.”
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