SEATTLE — If the clock was still running, the Seattle Sounders and Los Angeles Galaxy would surely still be trading goals. But the whistle did blow, and on Sunday afternoon it did so with the Sounders defeating the Galaxy, 4-3, in front of 46,673 at a raucous CenturyLink Field.
Cristian Roldan scored the game-winner at the back post in the 89th minute, tracking down a cross from late substitute Brad Smith to put the Sounders on top for a third and final time on the afternoon. It was Roldan’s second goal of the match and his sixth of the season.
The victory catapults the Sounders (13-8-7, 46 points) from fifth place to second place in the Western Conference playoff race. They have now won back-to-back matches against two of their biggest rivals after struggling through a four-game winless streak.
For their part, the Galaxy (13-12-3, 42 points) have now posted just one win in their last seven matches and sit in sixth place in the West.
Roldan’s dramatic game-winner capped a wild stretch of soccer that saw the teams combine to score five goals in 23 minutes.
Raul Ruidiaz opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time. The Peruvian striker found himself unmarked at the back post to knock in a cross from Nicolas Lodeiro, who had initially gathered a weak clearance at the edge of the penalty area. It was the 12th assist of the season for Lodeiro. It was also the 11th goal of the year for Ruidiaz, who has posted three goals and two assists in the Sounders’ last three matches.
The Sounders flew out of the gate to start the second half, and Roldan doubled the lead in the 55th minute, collecting a deflected corner kick at the edge of the penalty area, deftly sidestepping defender Giancarlo Gonzalez, and burying a left-footed shot past goalkeeper David Bingham.
With less than 30 minutes to play and the Galaxy looking fairly flat, it seemed the Sounders were on their way to a relatively routine victory.
But then the visitors earned a corner kick, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored his 23rd goal of the season, outmuscling Gustav Svensson to send a 66th-minute header past goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
Uriel Antuna scored a bit of a fluky equalizer in the 75th minute, gathering a deflected cross at the edge of the 6-yard box and easily besting a flat-footed Frei.
Jordan Morris responded for the Sounders just two minutes later after a quick give-and-go with Ruidiaz left Morris one-on-one against Bingham for a simple finish and the 3-2 lead.
The Galaxy equalized for a second time in the 81st minute when Diego Polenta found Jorgen Skjelvik with a ball over the top. Skjelvik tracked down the lob to the left of the penalty spot and tied the match at 3-3 with a first-touch shot.
It seemed the Galaxy might escape with a critical point, but Roldan and the Sounders had other ideas.
Looking forward, the Sounders visit the Colorado Rapids on Saturday, while the Galaxy visit the Rapids the following Wednesday.
Man of the Match
Cristian Roldan. A brace and a game-winner.
Moment of the Match
The Ibrahimovic header. It was Zlatan’s seventh goal in the Galaxy’s last four matches, and it ignited a 23-minute fireworks show.
Match to Forget
Giancarlo Gonzalez committed two errors that led to Sounders goals on a night when the Galaxy defense was poor once again.
As a Galaxy fan, this was painful to watch. Just shockingly bad defense, which did them in last year. It continues this year even though they have re-tooled the back line. Some of it must be the scheme as Schelotto consistently has his backs go way forward. Some of it is personnel when you see midfielders just watching instead of tracking back to help out. When you have the opponent get simple tap ins twice without a defender within 5 yards, you know something is drastically wrong. Time and time again they get beat on counter attacks. Given their personnel, they should be doing much better. For me, the only bright spot was when Corona came on, he really pushed the offense and got things going. I think he replaced Alvarez who had pretty much done nothing all night.Earlier in the season Schelotto had Corona playing defensive mid. He is clearly better as an attacking mid.
“Mason Toye is an American soccer player who currently plays for MLS club Minnesota United FC.”…..if he is consistent he will be a handful ?
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyRd0pPR5IY
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Do the USMNT have a new striker???? What the….?
Showing signs right now he’s still a little bit of a one trick pony. If clubs don’t give him space to get behind he doesn’t do much. Of course most of Concacaf isn’t going to leave space to run in behind. I saw a comparison to young Morris a big difference is Toye can actually use both feet.
“he’s still a little bit of a one trick pony. If clubs don’t give him space to get behind he doesn’t do much”… I guess he will be right at home up front for the USMNT ?
A real thriller and fun game to watch. USMNT needs Roldan (24) and Morris (24) to find consistency and really push their technical and mental abilities / awareness to the next level…..and a game like this is very promising. ???
I’ve seen the Sounders several times recently and both players seemed to have upped their games. I had been very doubtful about Roldan after his initial looks, which seemed promising. It is encouraging when you see a USMNT player beat a foreign international one on one and I saw Roldan do that once or twice last night
To bad he cant score for the nats. SMH!
3 goals the last two matches as a RW