The Seattle Sounders defeated FC Dallas 1-0 on Tuesday night behind a first-half penalty from Nicolás Lodeiro.
Near the end of the first half, Cristian Roldan picked out a Jordan Morris run in behind the Dallas defense. Morris reached the ball first before being checked by goalkeeper Maarten Paes and earning a penalty.
Lodeiro stepped up and buried the penalty to give the Sounders a 1-0 lead in the 39th minute.
Lodeiro nearly doubled Seattle’s lead in the 44th minute when his free kick from just outside the box forced Paes into a diving save.
Forward Jesús Ferreira had the best chance of the night for FC Dallas when he had a free header in the 86th minute that Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei went down to his right to collect.Â
The Sounders earned a massive three points in the Western Conference playoff race in a six-pointer against an FC Dallas team ahead of them in the table. Seattle now jumps into sixth in the standings and is one of only four teams in the West with double-digit victories.
Seattle will head to Atlanta on Saturday for a cross-conference clash against former assistant Gonzalo Pineda and his Atlanta United squad (12:08 p.m. PT; ABC, ESPN Deportes, 93.3 KJR FM, El Rey 1360AM).
THREE TAKEAWAYS
Lodeiro remains perfect
Lodeiro converted another penalty for the Sounders to up his total to five goals on the MLS season. The Sounders captain extended his perfect league record for penalties to 18 for 18 in his MLS career.
RuidÃaz returns
A welcome sign for the Sounders was the appearance of star forward Raúl RuidÃaz, who came on a 65th-minute substitute. He returned after missing the last four matches with a hamstring injury.
Home cooking
The Sounders extended their home unbeaten streak against FC Dallas to 16 matches (13-0-3). Dallas hasn’t won in Seattle since 2011.
