SEATTLE – Nicolás Lodeiro scored his first career MLS goal and Jordan Morris added another as the Seattle Sounders held on for a nail-biting 2-1 victory over visiting Real Salt Lake at CenturyLink Field on Sunday.
Lodeiro opened his MLS account with a 24th-minute strike off a feed from Andreas Ivanschitz before assisting Morris on his eighth goal of the season in the 37th, continuing his strong run of form since joining the Sounders as a Designated Player last month.
RSL would pull one back courtesy of forward Joao Plata in the 62nd minute, but the Sounders managed to hold the lead down the stretch to escape with all three points.
Seattle struck first after Ivanschitz made a run into the RSL penalty box off a pass from Clint Dempsey. The Austrian midfielder then left off a feed to Lodeiro, who curled in a nifty finish past Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando, boosting the Sounders to the early 1-0 advantage.
Morris then doubled the lead in the 37th minute after Lodeiro sent in a cross that the rookie forward headed past Rimando, giving the Sounders a 2-0 lead.
Morris very nearly added another just minutes later after taking a deflection at midfield and sprinting behind the RSL backline into a breakaway opportunity against Rimando. But Morris’s shot trickled just wide of the left goalpost, keeping the 2-0 lead that the Sounders would take into halftime.
The visitors would find a second half tally, however, after goalkeeper Stefan Frei inadvertently fired a throw into Movsisyan, who stole the ball and broke loose in the Seattle penalty box. After a frantic sequence, Movsisyan found Plata in front of the Sounders goal for the tap-in finish, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Seattle had a golden opportunity to make it a 3-1 lead in the 82nd minute after midfielder Cristian Roldan went down in the RSL box, drawing a penalty kick whistle from referee Kevin Stott. But forward Clint Dempsey had his attempt from the spot clang off the crossbar, keeping RSL within the single goal.
The missed penalty would ultimately be of no consequence as the Sounders would keep RSL at bay for the rest of the match to preserve the victory.
With the win, the Sounders moved to 8-12-3 and 27 points on the season, pulling within five points of the Portland Timbers for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Seattle will have an opportunity to cut further into that lead next weekend, as the Sounders host Portland in a Cascadia Cup clash at CenturyLink Field.
