The Seattle Sounders drew Atlanta United 2-2 on Saturday evening at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Ga. Atlanta benefitted from an early own goal from Yeimar before the Sounders leveled via Pedro de la Vega. Seattle and Atlanta then traded goals in second-half stoppage from Osaze De Rosario and Alexey Miranchuk to split the points.
Atlanta took an early lead inside seven minutes when Emannuel Latte Lath was played through to the left end line and played what appeared to be a cross, but it took a wicked deflection off the body of Yeimar and trickled past goalkeeper Andrew Thomas, who was wrong-footed on the redirection.
Atlanta was inches away from adding a second goal in the 41st minute when Luke Brennan cut inside from the left flank and tried to beat Thomas at the near post, but his shot rattled off the post before the Sounders cleared the danger.
Brennan appeared to have found the back of the net two minutes later, but he was whistled offside.
The Sounders earned their equalizer in the 54th minute when de la Vega led a massive 3-v-1 counterattack starting just past midfield. Atlanta defenders stayed off him running at them, so the Argentine took it into his own hands and buried his shot at the near post past goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
Atlanta had a decent look in the 64th minute when a pass was dropped to Bartosz Slisz, whose one-timed effort just sailed over the goal.
The Sounders nearly forced an own goal of their own in the 67th minute when Alex Roldan played a beautiful low, driven ball across the box that was deflected by an Atlanta defender and ricocheted off the far post.
Seattle had a wonderful opportunity in the 90th minute when Roldan whipped in a pinpoint cross to the six-yard box, but De Rosario, who had just entered as a substitute, couldn’t head it on frame.
Slisz forced Thomas into his first save of the match in the fourth minute of stoppage time with a laser from outside the box that was hit right into Thomas’ chest.
The Sounders thought they had won it late a minute later when Nouhou crossed a gorgeous ball in front for De Rosario, who made no mistake this time around, winning his contested header and redirecting it past Guzan.
Atlanta equalized in the ninth minute of stoppage time when Miranchuk unleashed a rocket from 25 yards out on what became the last play of the game.
Seattle finishes the match fourth in the Western Conference with 38 points from 24 matches. The Sounders sit eight points behind conference-leading San Diego FC with a match in hand.
The Sounders enter their third international competition of the year on July 31 when they welcome Liga MX’s Cruz Azul to Lumen Field for their first match in the 2025 Leagues Cup (7:30 p.m. PT; FS1, UniMás, Watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV | TICKETS). Seattle will also host Mexico’s Santos Laguna and Tijuana.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
De Rosario opens his account
Just six minutes into his cameo, De Rosario made an instant impact and recorded his first career MLS goal. It was just the sixth appearance of the year for the son of MLS great Dwayne after signing earlier this year from Tacoma Defiance.
de la Vega stays hot
The Sounders winger followed up his goal-and-assist performance last week against the San Jose Earthquakes with another goal on a devastating counterattack. Playing in his preferred left winger position, de la Vega has looked electric over the past 180 minutes and ruthless on the break.
Unbeaten run continues
Since exiting the FIFA Club World Cup, the Sounders are unbeaten in their last six MLS contests (3-0-3).
