The Seattle Sounders defeated Sporting Kansas City 2-1 at Lumen Field on Thursday. André Luiz gave the visitors the lead on the brink of halftime before an early second-half goal from Sebastian Gomez and a 90th-minute tally from Cristian Roldan gave Seattle all three points.
Peter Kingston gave Sporting goalkeeper Stefan Cleveland his first real work of the match in the 10th minute when Kingston ripped a left-footed shot from 25 yards out that Cleveland jumped to tip over the crossbar.
Alex Roldan made a goal-line clearance in the 19th minute to keep a Calvin Harris effort from trickling over the line.
The Sounders withstood a flurry of SKC chances over the next 10 minutes with goalkeeper Andrew Thomas cleaning up in net and a series of key defensive blocks in the box by Seattle’s defense.
Seattle peppered the SKC goal with multiple corner kicks in the first half with the closest opportunity coming in the 38th minute when Danny Musovski’s volley went over the crossbar.
Thomas made arguably his best save of the first half in the 42nd minute when he dove to his left to deny a long-range shot from Stephen Afrifa.
Sporting took the lead in the 44th minute when a deflected Sounders pass trying to play out of the back fell serendipitously to Luiz, who quickly turned and deposited a left-footed strike into the top corner.
The Sounders leveled the match just six minutes after halftime when Gomez, who came on as a halftime substitute, was on the receiving end of a brilliant bit of hold-up play. Morris was played in behind and shielded off his defender in the box before falling and directing a pass while on the ground for the onrushing Gomez, who buried his shot into the net.
In the 56th minute, Kingston had yet another long-range effort with his left foot saved by Cleveland, who did well to dive to his left and push it away.
Cleveland made another diving stop on a Morris shot from the right side of the box in the 60th minute that seemed destined to find the far corner.
Gomez nearly recorded his brace in the 68th minute when he got a great look on goal in the box that was deflected and just skipped out of play.
Caden Clark was inches away from a go-ahead goal in the 72nd minute when his left-footed shot from the edge of the area just missed wide of the near post.
Thomas made a huge reaction save in the 77th minute to grab a snap header from Taylor Calheira.
Albert Rusnák had a great opportunity in the 84th minute from the center of the box, but his shot was blocked by Wyatt Meyer.
The Sounders grabbed all three points at the death when Morris played a through ball behind the Kansas City defense that Meyer tried to clear but kicked it right into the path of Roldan, who redirected the winner into the net for his fifth goal of the season.
Seattle ends the evening seventh in the Western Conference with 38 points from 27 matches and two points clear of the Wild Card round.
The Sounders will have this weekend off before traveling cross-country for a clash with the Eastern Conference’s second-place team in the New England Revolution on Saturday, Oct. 10 (4:30 p.m. PT; Apple TV).
THREE TAKEAWAYS
Gomez opens Sounders account
After signing a Homegrown contract this past offseason, Gomez, 20, recorded his first goal for the First Team in his 15th career appearance. Gomez joined the Sounders Academy as an 11-year-old in 2017 and matriculated through MLS NEXT Pro affiliate Tacoma Defiance before making his senior team breakthrough this year.
Nine-point homestand
The Sounders took nine points from nine on offer in their three-match homestand during the FIFA international break, taking care of Real Salt Lake, Minnesota United and SKC. After entering last Wednesday with just 29 points in 24 matches, the Sounders racked up a massive string of results to put them in prime position to return to the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Unbeaten streak reaches right
Completely flipping the script from their club-record eight-match MLS losing streak, Seattle is now unbeaten in its last eight contests (3-0-5) with all three victories coming even without new Designated Player Dejan Joveljić, who has been away on international duty with Serbia.
