Almost one month has passed since the last meeting between the Sounders and Vancouver, and the Sounders went into this game with a vastly different mindset and momentum. Saturday’s two-goal game was an eventful night of yellow cards, shots, VAR checks, and a red card.
The Sounders will be disappointed in the home draw against the Cascadia rivals. Cristian Roldan described the feeling of the draw as a loss. “It felt like it was a decent performance. I think that we needed to do a bit of a better job of closing out the game with the ball, be a little bit more dangerous when we’re up 1-0 instead of conceding possession and conceding crosses, and that’s what at the end of the day resulted in the PK … It’s a 1-1 game and we split points, we don’t move in the standings, and so it definitely feels like a loss.”
Aimee Worthington / Area Sports Network
Seattle started the game off with an offensive push, and it did not take long to find the opening goal. After two attempts in the box by João Paulo and Obed Vargas, nine minutes into the match, Jordan Morris scored his second goal of the season off the rebound. Morris has struggled with his goal-scoring form in the 2024 season thus far and will surely feel happiness to find the back of the net in a Cascadia game.
The remainder of the first half played out to be fairly balanced as far as competition, with the Sounders and Whitecaps maintaining long spells of possession. The possession statistic reflected this balance factor by halftime, slightly in the Sounders’ favor at 51–49 percent. Though the Whitecaps had more shots on target in the first half, the Sounders had a significantly higher expected goals (xG) number—the difference registering at 0.39. By the end of the match, the expected goal statistics were 0.99–0.99, though the Sounders finished with 52–48 percent possession.
Aimee Worthington / Area Sports Network
A notable name on the bench was Pedro de la Vega, who marked his official return from injury when he was brought on for João Paulo in the 76th minute. The Young Designated Player had not played since his hamstring injury in March's Austin FC game. After de la Vega came on, the Sounders’ morale increased deeper into the second half. Two major header opportunities on the Vancouver goal almost doubled the Rave Green's lead—one from a controversially blocked Jordan Morris header and a de la Vega flick header that went off the crossbar.
Looking at the replay, it appeared the ball struck Defender Javain Brown's upper arm, which would classify as a Denial of Goal-Scoring Opportunity (DOGSO) offense. However, after VAR checked the play, it was determined that the arm that the ball struck was in a natural position, and it was decided not to trigger an on-field review. Looking back at the replay, Brown’s elbow appeared to be away from his body when the ball struck his arm. Many were upset at the officials’ decision not to consult the monitor.
Cristian Roldan spoke about the no-call incident, saying, “I felt like his elbow was not in a natural position [as he acted out the arm movement]. This is not a position of where I put my hand to block a header.”
The 90th minute of the match saw the invocation of VAR to investigate a potential penalty against the Sounders. The ball striking Nouhou's arm as he slid to block a shot ignited the protests in Vancouver. Seattle fans' hearts sank as Vancouver won the penalty and Nouhou was sent off with a second yellow card. Considering the replay of the incident and the height of Nouhou’s arm when making contact with the ball, it was a clear-cut penalty.
Aimee Worthington / Area Sports Network
Ryan Gauld converted the penalty to tie the match in the 95th minute, taunting Sounders fans in his goal celebration. Following the restart, momentum remained among Vancouver’s fans as they kept attacking the Seattle final third.
Schmetzer spoke about the disappointment in the lack of creating opportunities, while not being able to capitalize on having a one-goal lead: “Frustrated we couldn’t generate anything more than a handball with his arm out. That was probably our best chance in the second half. de la Vega hits the post from an impossible angle.”
The game could have ended in a victory for either side, with Vancouver threatening the Seattle goal and vice versa. Pedro de la Vega attempted to regain the lead in the dying moments of the Vancouver attack. From a tight angle, de la Vega almost found a goal in the return, but hit the woodwork. Shortly after the opportunity, the referee blew his final whistle, cementing the 1-1 final scoreline.
Cover Photo: Aimee Worthington / Area Sports Network
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