SEATTLE, WA – For the second match in a row the Sounders’ attack looked lifeless as they settled with a draw with expansion club Austin FC on Sunday.
The level ending did mean that the Rave Green remained (5-0-3) unbeaten on the season, but much as last week felt like a loss this one too seemed like points being left on the pitch.
“It’s frustrating and you never want to drop points at home,” coach Brian Schmetzer said in the postgame press conference. “It was an improvement from last week vs Atlanta but it is the same result, two points dropped.”
There appeared to be a breakthrough in the 75th minute when a ball crossed through the box found the sliding foot of Freddy Montero who put it away and gave Seattle a 1-0 lead. The happiness amongst the nearly 13,000 inside Lumen Field did not last however as a VAR check showed that Raúl Ruidíaz was offsides and although he did not touch the ball, he was apart of the play enough to have the goal disallowed.
This was the lone opportunity of note for the Sounders despite winning the possession battle (56%). This was a major talking point after last weeks loss to Atlanta, where many felt Seattle gave away too much of the possession but once again it comes down to what you do with the ball and not how much it is at your feet.
Another thing that really stood out in the match was the physicality that Austin played with. They did not allow for the Sounders to get out on the counter attack as they took away all of the outlet lanes. They kept the game at a pace that Seattle is not used to playing out and that should be concerning as a blueprint has started to be shown on how to beat this club.
Yes, a lot can be said about the “flopping” that Austin did in order to slow that match down and not every team does that or is willing too, but it did seem to really get to the Sounders players and their frustration took them out of their game.
On the positive side, the defense still looked solid in another shutout performance. Stefan Cleveland, who made a huge save that kept the match level, appears to be getting more and more comfortable in a role that will be his for the foreseeable future. They are still yet to give up a goal in the run of play as the only three conceded have been from the penalty spot. That’s not something to just overlook.
There is concern with this club going forward, but to think that this hasn’t been a great start would be foolish.
SCORING SUMMARY
Nothing
WHATS NEXT?
The international break is coming up and a break of play comes with that. The Sounders wont be back in action for three weeks when they take on the Galaxy down in Carson on June 19th. That game will kickoff a run of three matches in the span of a week, including home matches with Real Salt Lake and Vancouver.
The match vs the Galaxy is scheduled for a 6:00 pm kickoff from Dignity Health Sports Park. You can watch the game on JOEtv and Prime Video, or if you are an audible type of person then 950 KJR and El Rey 1360 AM have you covered.
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Russell is the Content Director for the Eli Network. He studied broadcast journalism at Eastern Oregon and North Dakota State University. Mostly covers soccer and basketball in the Seattle area and is the current play-by-play voice for Seattle Redhawks basketball. You can follow him @brussbrwn.
