Sounders FC (9-3-3, 30 points) earned a 2-1 home win over Real Salt Lake (4-6-6, 18 points) on Wednesday evening at CenturyLink Field. Jordan Morris opened the scoring early before Yeimar Gómez Andrade put the game out of reach in the second half.
The win keeps the Rave Green at the top of the Western Conference before they hit the road this weekend to face LAFC on Sunday, October 11 at Banc of California Stadium (4:00 p.m. PT / FS1, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM).
MEDIA RESOURCES
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:https://sndrs.com/gldvs
PHOTOS - IMAGES FOR MEDIA USE: https://sndrs.com/a26x2
VIDEO - SCHMETZER PRESS CONFERENCE: https://sndrs.com/g6fz2
VIDEO - GÓMEZ ANDRADE & FREI PRESS CONFERENCE: https://sndrs.com/hc3pn
MATCH NOTES
- Sounders FC Head Coach Brian Schmetzer achieved a major career milestone on Wednesday night. Including all competitions and friendlies, tonight marked Schmetzer’s 400th match as Seattle Head Coach. This number is inclusive of both USL and MLS eras, dating back to 2002. The Emerald City Supporters honored this milestone with a tifo in the Brougham End during tonight’s game.
- With the win, Seattle maintains top position in the Western Conference. With 30 points, the Rave Green are three points ahead of archival Portland.
- In the race for the MLS Supporters’ Shield, Seattle is four points behind leader Toronto FC (34 points), but the club has a game in-hand on the Reds and the two other teams above it in the race to be the top regular season side (Columbus and Philadelphia are tied on 31 points behind Toronto).
- Seattle has now won three-consecutive matches and five of its past six outings.
- Including postseason matchups, Wednesday’s contest at CenturyLink Field marked the 32nd all-time meeting between Sounders FC and Real Salt Lake. Seattle is now 10-3-2 at home in regular-season play against the Utah side, with also going 2-0-1 in the MLS Cup Playoffs at home.
- With his goal in the 28th minute of play, Jordan Morris bagged his eighth strike of the season. Morris is now just one goal behind Seattle’s leading scorer Raúl Ruidíaz, who is currently away on international duty with Peru.
- Morris’ goal also helped him climb the MLS Golden Boot table, as his eight goals now rank tied for third in MLS scoring. Ruidíaz is tied for second in the MLS Golden Boot race with Columbus' Gyasi Zardes (nine goals each), trailing LAFC forward Diego Rossi by two goals.
- Morris’ contributions to his club’s attack are second-best of any player among all teams in MLS. Only Toronto FC’s Alejandro Pozuelo (seven goals / nine assists) has more combined goals and assists than Morris (eight goals / seven assists).
- On Seattle’s opening goal in the 28th minute, Nicolás Lodeiro and Cristian Roldan earned their seventh and third assists of 2020, respectively.
- On Yeimar Gómez Andrade’s goal in the 68th minute of play, Lodeiro bagged his eighth assist of the campaign, good for the team lead in this statistical category.
- Lodeiro now has recorded an assist in three-consecutive MLS matches.
- Yeimar scored his second goal of the season in the 68th minute, having previously scored against Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium on September 2. Since joining the club prior to the 2020 season, the Colombian has started all 13 matches he has featured in.
- After tonight’s performance, Seattle still has the top goal difference in the league (+20), and the club is second to LAFC in goals scored (34 goals for Seattle to LAFC’s 35). Sunday’s matchup in Southern California pits the top two attacking sides in the league against one another.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 2 – Real Salt Lake 1
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Referee: David Gantar
Assistants: Jeff Hosking, Gjovalin Bori
Fourth Official: Silviu Petrescu
VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
Attendance: Closed Door
Weather: 61 degrees and clear
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Jordan Morris (Cristian Roldan, Nicolás Lodeiro) 28’
SEA – Yeimar Gómez Andrade (Nicolás Lodeiro) 61’
RSL – Nouhou (OG) 68’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SEA – Jordy Delem (caution) 26’
SEA – Shane O’Neill (caution) 70’
RSL – Nick Besler (caution) 76’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Kelvin Leerdam (Alex Roldan 86’), Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Shane O’Neill, Nouhou (Román Torres 86’); Jordy Delem, João Paulo, Cristian Roldan, Nicolás Lodeiro, Jordan Morris; Will Bruin (Brad Smith 64’)
Substitutes not used: Stefan Cleveland, Handwalla Bwana, Shandon Hopeau, Josh Atencio, Justin Dhillon
Total shots: 7 (Bruin/Yeimar, 2)
Shots on goal: 3 (Three players, 1)
Fouls: 8 (Delem, 2)
Offside: 4 (Morris, 2)
Corner-kicks: 2 (Lodeiro, 2)
Saves: 0
Real Salt Lake – Andrew Putna; Aaron Herrera (Justin Meram 86’), Erik Holt, Justen Glad, Nick Besler; Tate Schmidt, Pablo Ruiz, Kyle Beckerman (Jeizon Ramierz 86’), Justin Portillo; Sam Johnson (Douglas Martinez 66’), Corey Baird (Maikel Chang 66’)
Substitutes not used: Zac MacMath, Marcelo Silva, Donny Toia, Milan Iloski
Total shots: 7 (Ruiz, 2)
Shots on goal: 0
Fouls: 8 (Herrera, 3)
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 3 (Ruiz, 2)
Saves: 1 (Putna, 1)
