Seattle Sounders 4- Los Angeles Galaxy 3
Four goals in fourteen minutes. Yes, you read that right. On a night in which the Seattle Sounders and the Los Angeles Galaxy both needed three points to cement their playoff status, both sides showed what they were truly capable of in a frenetic one game series. In the end it was the Sounders that came out on top pipping their old rivals 4-3 at CenturyLink Field.
For a game with seven goals one might have expected the totals to be even between the two halves. But the two intervals were a stark contrast to one another with the first 45 looking like it might be another defensive battle between two of the top sides in the Western Conference. A Raul Ruidiaz goal just before the half gave Seattle the slight edge.
In the second half things got a little silly. Cristian Roldan gave the Sounders an insurance goal to push the home side up 2-0 in the 55th minute. But the Galaxy struck back with Zlatan (66′) and Uriel Antuna (75′) levelling the score. Jordan Morris gave the Sounders the lead once again with his goal in the 77th minute. But the Galaxy once again showed their resolve with Jorgen Skelvjik breaking past the Seattle defense to score his first goal in MLS (81′). What would follow would be eight minutes of exciting, but frenetic soccer with both sides looking for the final goal to seal the three points. In the end it was Roldan who played the role of hero, finishing off a Brad Smith pass with an emphatic shot off of Galaxy David Bingham to complete the brace.
With the win, Seattle (13-8-7. 46 points) retain their hold of second place in the Western Conference standings just a point ahead of Minnesota United FC (13-9-6, 45 points). They will travel to Colorado tomorrow to take on the Rapids (6pm PST, ESPN+).
As for the Galaxy (13-12-, 42 points) the loss puts them in greater peril of missing out on the MLS’ second season. They have the weekend off before taking on the Rapids next Wednesday.
All photos are courtesy of Prost photographer Paul Kahl whose full gallery you can check out on SmugMug.
