Fredy Montero bagged his 64th career goal in all competitions for Seattle Sounders FC (9-3-6, 33 points), but Franco Jara equalized in second-half stoppage time for FC Dallas (4-7-6, 18 points) in midweek action at Lumen Field. With Sounders FC’s draw and Sporting Kansas City’s win tonight at Los Angeles FC, Seattle and Sporting are level atop the Western Conference with 33 points each. Sporting holds the total wins tiebreaker (10 victories to Seattle’s nine).
Sounders FC took the lead in the 72nd minute via a free kick from João Paulo that found the head of Fredy Montero. The Colombian recorded his fourth goal of the season and his 51st all-time strike in regular-season play. For Montero, he continues to add to his club-leading total, scoring 64 goals in all competitions for the Rave Green, more than any other MLS Sounder in the club’s history.
However, the Hoops equalized at the death when Nkosi Tafari sent a ball into the area that rattled around at the top of Seattle’s six-yard-box, eventually finding the foot of Franco Jara, who was able to tap it in from point-blank range in the 91st minute.
Seattle now takes a rare weekend off from league play, as the club prepares to host Liga MX powerhouse Tigres on Tuesday, August 10 at Lumen Field (7:00 p.m. PT / ESPN2, TUDN, El Rey 1360 AM). The Rave Green are competing in Leagues Cup – the official annual single-elimination tournament featuring clubs from MLS and Liga MX, Mexico’s topflight league – for the first time, with a 4-8-2 all-time record against Liga MX clubs, all coming in Concacaf Champions League play.
MATCH NOTES
• Following tonight’s result, Seattle moves to 33 points on the season. With Sounders FC’s draw and Sporting Kansas City’s win tonight at Los Angeles FC, Seattle and Sporting are level atop the Western Conference with 33 points each. Sporting holds the total wins tiebreaker (10 victories to Seattle’s nine). Sporting also has one match in-hand on the Rave Green.
• Fredy Montero bagged his fourth goal of 2021 on Wednesday night, good for second on the club’s roster in scoring behind Raúl Ruidíaz (11 goals). Montero now has 51 regular-season goals for Sounders FC, and 64 total strikes in all competitions for the Rave Green, more than any player in team history.
• Montero’s goal in the 72nd minute of play was his fifth against Dallas in his career, tied for the all-time Sounders FC lead in scoring against the Hoops (Lamar Neagle also has five goals).
• With a free-kick assist on Montero’s goal, João Paulo earned his sixth assist of 2021. The Brazilian playmaker is now tied for third in MLS in overall assists.
• In MLS regular-season play, Sounders FC moves to 12-7-8 all-time against FC Dallas, including a 9-1-3 mark at home (Seattle has outscored Dallas 30-9 in those matches at Lumen Field). The two sides are also familiar postseason opponents, meeting eight times dating back to 2014. Sounders FC is 4-2-2 all time against Dallas in those contests.
• Cristian Roldan made his return to Sounders FC’s starting lineup for the first time since July 4, having helped the United States Men’s National Team hoist the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup on Sunday over Mexico. Along with his brother Alex, Roldan was named to the 2021 MLS All-Star Team this morning, with the best of Major League Soccer facing off against the best of Liga MX on August 25 at Banc of California Stadium. Alex Roldan made his international debut for El Salvador this summer, appearing in all four of his nation’s Gold Cup matches, scoring one goal.
• In addition to the Roldan brothers, four other Sounders were named to the MLS All-Star squad this morning. Raúl Ruidíaz, João Paulo, Yeimar Gómez Andrade and Nouhou joined Alex Roldan and Cristian Roldan on the 28-man roster that will face the Liga MX All-Stars at Bank of California Stadium. This marks the first MLS All-Star appearance for each of the six Seattle players, who were all selected via the fan, player and media vote. Notably, the simultaneous All-Star Game selection of both Alex and Cristian Roldan marks the first time a pair of brothers have been named to an MLS All-Star Game in the same year.
• Club captain Nicolás Lodeiro made his first matchday 18-man roster since May 2 versus the LA Galaxy, coming on as a substitute for Kelyn Rowe in the 87th minute of play. The Uruguayan playmaker has been out due to right knee surgery and is now available for selection by Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. A mainstay for the Rave Green, the appearance marked just the second time since Lodeiro joined the club in mid-2016 that he has not started (123 regular-season contests).
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 1 – FC Dallas 1
Wednesday, August 4, 2021
Venue: Lumen Field
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistants: Nick Uranga, Kevin Lock
Fourth Official: Joshua Encarnacion
VAR: Daniel Radford
Attendance: 31,628
Weather: 84 degrees and clear
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Fredy Montero (João Paulo) 72’
FCD – Franco Jara (Nkosi Tafari) 90’+1’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SEA – Brad Smith (caution) 87’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Cleveland; Alex Roldan, Xavier Arreaga, Shane O’Neill, Yeimar, Jimmy Medranda (Brad Smith 60’); João Paulo, Cristian Roldan, Kelyn Rowe (Nicolás Lodeiro 87’); Raúl Ruidíaz, Fredy Montero (Will Bruin 73’)
Substitutes not used: Spencer Richey, Ethan Dobbelaere, Reed Baker-Whiting, Danny Leyva, Josh Atencio, Abdoulaye Cissoko
Total shots: 16
Shots on goal: 6
Fouls: 11
Offside: 1
Corner-kicks: 3
Saves: 2
FC Dallas – Jimmy Maurer; Bressan, Ryan Hollingshead, Nkosi Tafari; Facundo Quignon, Edwin Cerrillo (Andres Ricaurte 76’), Paxton Pomykal (Freddy Vargas 78’), Ema Twumasi; Jesús Ferreira (Bryan Acosta 66’), Szabolcs (Jader Obrian 66’), Ricardo Pepi (Franco Jara 76’)
Substitutes not used: Brandon Servania, Matt Hedges, John Nelson, Phelipe
Total shots: 10
Shots on goal: 3
Fouls: 13
Offside: 2
Corner-kicks: 5
Saves: 5
