ORLANDO — The Víctor Rodríguez train keeps on rolling.
The 29-year-old Spaniard scored and assisted in Seattle’s 2-1 win at Orlando City SC on Wednesday, helping the Sounders clinch their 10th consecutive postseason berth. He has four goals and two assists in his last three matches and has been playing his best soccer in a Sounders kit since joining during last summer’s transfer window.
“He was enjoying his football until the last few minutes when he was dead tired and he had to keep running, so you have to give the kid a lot of credit,” Head Coach Brian Schmetzer said of Rodríguez. “He is enjoying football, but he understands he’s a good pro. He knows what it takes to win games, how to win games, so I’m very pleased for him.”
Rodríguez has battled several injuries in his short time in Seattle, two of which forced him to miss 15 matches this season. But he’s started the last three contests and has been as good as, if not better, than advertised. He now has eight goals and seven assists in 28 regular-season and postseason matches with the Sounders.
On Wednesday, he opened the scoring just three minutes in with a golazo, a beautiful leaping volley off a pass from Kelvin Leerdam that looped over the head of OCSC goalkeeper Adam Grinwis. Ten minutes later, Rodríguez drove the left side before laying off a pass for Handwalla Bwana, who beat his defender 1-v-1 and cut inside before firing a deflected shot into the back of the net to double the lead.
Rodríguez celebrates his goal against Orlando City SC on Wednesday | Jeremy Reper
“For a young guy to see Víctor training, I always pay attention to what he does,” said Bwana. “After training he’s the last person in the weight room, he’s always working. He’s been incredible, he’s a big part of our team and I try to learn as much as I can from him.”
Rodríguez’s influence was especially felt on Wednesday with the absences of Raúl Ruidíaz and Nicolás Lodeiro offensively due to international duty. Ruidíaz played a full 90 minutes for Peru in a 1-1 draw with the United States in Connecticut on Tuesday before flying to Orlando on Wednesday to rejoin the Sounders. He was available on the bench, but did not play. Lodeiro, who is expected to meet the Sounders in Houston for their match against the Dynamo on Sunday (2 p.m. PT; JOEtv, YouTube TV, Univision-Seattle, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM), was returning from two Uruguay matches in Asia against South Korea and Japan.
Rodríguez slotted into Lodeiro’s typical No. 10 position in the middle and broke down Orlando’s defense with precision all evening long.
“Víctor was instrumental for us today in the game,” said midfielder Cristian Roldan. “He’s a guy who has a lot of quality going forward, very smart player, picks and chooses his spots offensively and defensively he makes his impact too. But you know, we were missing a couple guys and Víctor stepped in and did his job. We’re very happy and fortunate to have him on the team, and it’s going to be dangerous if he continues his form going into the playoffs.”
