The Seattle Sounders defeated the LA Galaxy 3-1 on Thursday night at Lumen Field in the Round of 32 in the 2024 Leagues Cup. Yeimar, Jackson Ragen and Alex Roldan all scored in the first half before Gabriel Pec tallied a late consolation goal.
The Sounders struck twice inside seven minutes off two corner kicks. Yeimar opened the scoring in the fourth minute when he headed home a ball from Albert Rusnák. Ragen then doubled the lead three minutes later when he cleaned up a rebound on a Jordan Morris header that hit goalkeeper John McCarthy in the face.
Over the next 10 minutes, Galaxy winger Pec had a pair of opportunities on the doorstep that he skied over the crossbar.
McCarthy made a huge save in the 35th minute to deny Roldan before Jalen Neal made a massive deflection on Morris’ subsequent close-range shot.
Roldan found the Sounders’ third goal in the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time with a beautiful curling effort from 25 yards out that hit the side netting.
The Galaxy thought they scored in the 53rd minute on a header by Maya Yoshida off a free kick from Pec, but the goal was waived off for offside.
Rusnák almost made it four in the 69th minute when McCarthy denied the Slovakian on a left-footed strike from the left side of the box.
Pec found a consolation goal in the 83rd minute when Riqui Puig slipped in the Brazilian, who dinked it over a sliding Andrew Thomas.
With the comprehensive win, the Sounders have progressed to the Leagues Cup Round of 16, where they will host Liga MX side Pumas UNAM on Monday, August 12.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
2022 CCL Final rematch on the horizon
The Round of 16 features a colossal clash between the Sounders and Liga MX’s Pumas UNAM in a rematch of the two-leg final of the 2022 Concacaf Champions League. Seattle earned a thrilling 2-2 draw in Mexico City in the first leg before a convincing 3-0 result in the return leg at Lumen Field gave the Sounders the continental crown. Tickets will go live on SoundersFC.com on August 9 at 1:00 p.m. PT.
Defense to offense
Seattle was led in attack by three of its four members of the back line. The goals were the first of the year in all competitions for Yeimar, the second for Ragen and third for Roldan.
Home dominance over LA
The Sounders ran their unbeaten streak at home against the Galaxy to nine matches (6-0-3). LA hasn’t taken three points at Lumen Field since 2016.
