SEATTLE – Forward Will Bruin scored against his former team in the 69th minute, giving the Seattle Sounders a 1-0 home victory over the Houston Dynamo in their Sunday night matchup at CenturyLink Field.
The match was locked in a scoreless tie until Bruin’s breakthrough finish off a cross from Cristian Roldan, which proved to be the decisive tally. It was the fourth goal of the season for Bruin, who played for the Dynamo for six seasons from 2011-2016 before getting traded to Seattle last offseason. The win moved Seattle into a playoff spot for the first time in 2017, earning the Sounders a third straight shutout win at CenturyLink Field.
The Sounders were once again contending with a couple of notable absences due to international duty, as forwards Clint Dempsey and Jordan Morris each missed Sunday’s contest as they serve with the US national team. Bruin slotted in up top for the first time since dislocating his elbow against Real Salt Lake on May 20, while Roldan made his first career start in the No. 10 role before moving to right back in the second half.
Seattle held 70% of the possession through the opening 45 minutes but couldn’t manage to parlay that advantage into the game’s opening goal. Left back Joevin Jones had perhaps the most dangerous opportunity in the 17th minutes off an ambitious distance attempt from the left flank that forced Houston goalkeeper Tyler Deric into a diving save.
Dynamo forward Cubo Torres had Houston’s most dangerous opportunity in the 13th minute after he teed up a laser shot on Sounders ‘keeper Stefan Frei, but the Seattle backstop made the reaction save to deny the attempt. Neither team would manage to break through after that and the game would remain scoreless at halftime.
Bruin would break the deadlock, however, with a headed finish as he crashed in on goal off a cross from Roldan, giving the Sounders the game’s lone tally that would hold as the game-winner.
The win was Seattle’s third victory in its last four games, although it did come on the heels of a 3-0 road defeat at the hands of Columbus Crew SC on Wednesday. The Sounders are now 5-6-2 with 19 points on the season and will now turn their focus to US Open Cup play, where they’ll take on the Portland Timbers in a fourth-round matchup at Starfire on June 13.
