For the first time since 2018, the Seattle Sounders traveled to The A to face Atlanta United in an inter-conference showdown. Despite winning two of their last three games and getting some momentum back on their side after a three-match scoreless drought in mid-July, the visitors fell to the home side by a scoreline of 2-1 this weekend. Saturday’s game marked the fifth all-time meeting between these sides and the first match of the head-to-head series that Atlanta United has won.
The hosts were taking it to the Sounders in the opening quarter of the match before getting the game’s opening goal, including a Ronaldo Cisneros effort that was stopped by Stefan Frei in the 11th minute. Atlanta would get on the board in the 23rd minute when Cisneros himself would hit a shot that would take an unlucky deflection off in between Nouhou’s legs before finding the side-netting. For the fifth time in the last seven matches, Seattle would be the side to concede the game’s first goal. “We hadn’t conceded too many chances up until then,” said Cristian Roldan. “It almost feels like every first chance that the other team gets, it seems to go into the back of the net.”
Outside of a diving header from Jordan Morris that was narrowly slapped away by Rocco Ríos Novo in the 32nd minute, the Sounders did not seem to be able to conjure up many significant goal-scoring opportunities. Playing from behind and chasing the game has been a major point that coaches and players, such as Cristian Roldan, have emphasized and identified as an area of improvement in the past month. “I think playing from behind has been a pattern for us, trying to push guys forward and not being able to break down the opponent when they have 10 guys behind the ball,” said Roldan.
Seattle really seemed to come to life in the second half of the match, when Raúl Ruidíaz and Danny Leyva were substituted into the game in the 55th minute. One of the key challenges that the Sounders have encountered in the past couple of months is the inconsistency in Raúl’s availability due to his recurring hamstring injuries, so having him be featured for the second match in a row must have been a great thing for Brian Schmetzer and staff to see. The improvement in ball movement and attacking moments finally materialized in the 68th minute, when Nouhou sent in a low cross to Cristian Roldan, whose first go at goal was blocked, but the second effort found the back of the net to equalize the game at one tally apiece. Brian Schmetzer took note of Raúl’s effect on the game in the last 35 minutes of the contest. “I thought when Raúl came on, I thought the team looked dangerous,” said Schmetzer. “There were many moments, not just the goal by Cristian.”
Despite the Sounders being only moments away from leaving Mercedes-Benz Stadium with an incredibly valuable away point, Andrew Gutman would steal all three points for the hosts in stoppage time after the super-sub hit a long-range goalazo from outside the area off the far post and into the back of the net, leaving Seattle stunned and heartbroken at the death of the match. “There’s not a lot of things I can say that’s going to make them feel any better because they put a lot of effort and energy into the game,” said Schmetzer. “There’s a couple of positives that we’re going to try and take from the game, but right now it’s a pretty disappointed group and it’ll be a long trip home.”
Of Seattle’s 12 defeats this season, the Sounders have lost 10 of them by a single goal. The club is also tied with Charlotte FC for the least amount of draws this year in regular season play with only two. Cristian Roldan spoke to this uncharacteristic pattern of results from the Sounders this season. “We kind of step it up once we concede a goal and that shouldn’t be the case,” said Roldan. “We should always be on the front foot from the very beginning, and I think that’s why it’s the most frustrating because we feel like we’ve been playing well in those moments when we’re throwing guys forward and we feel like we get one or two to get us back into the game, and when we don’t, it gets frustrating because we lose these games 1-0, 2-1.”
The Sounders have already played 33 total games across all competitions this year, which is just one match shy of a full regular season of play, which is something that Brian Schmetzer attributes some of the recent play and results to. “When players are tired, when their legs are heavy, they make mental mistakes,” said Schmetzer. “We struggled a little bit in certain moments. I think all those things do stem from heavy legs sometimes, so we’ve adjusted our training. We’ve lowered the volume and kept the intensity high.”
With key matches coming up for the rest of the month, the Sounders will certainly need those adjusted training methods to pay dividends. Despite dropping the point in Atlanta this weekend, Seattle fell from 7th place in the western conference to only 8th place due to favorable results concerning other western conference foes. Over the course of the next three games, the Sounders will play oppositions that are within only two points of them in the standings, and it will start with RSL next weekend. “We’re going to give the guys time off to mentally and physically take some days off and then gear back up again for RSL,” said Schmetzer. “There are some big games (coming up), but I still have confidence in the team. They’ve played in many difficult situations, so we’ll get through it.”
