Sounders split points with Dallas despite statistical domination, falling to fourth in West
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – Despite returning to near complete form on the injury front and playing in front of their home crowd, the Seattle Sounders yet again dropped points on their own turf and continue to squander opportunities as we fast approach the MLS Playoffs, recording a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas. Seattle vastly outshot and out chanced the visiting Dallas, but their finishing failures remain a key issue for the Sounders who will now have about a month until their next regular season competition as the MLS All-Star break approaches and the Leagues Cup gets underway. Some of these recent matches may have been considered must win, and while I wouldn’t say that, the opportunity to stay atop the Western Conference in points has slipped right out of Seattle’s hands by their own fault.
Prior to kickoff, the Seattle Sounders celebrated the “Bruce Lee” match with a special ceremony and a live painting of Lee (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Luck of Leo
Sounders left winger Leo Chu continues to have his best year to date with the club, and his impact from last match in Vancouver where he tallied a brace seemed to leak into tonight’s battle at home. The Brazilian attacker was the key factor in Seattle’s only goal of the match, off some strong buildup in the Sounders midfield by Albert Rusnak. Chu and Rusnak did a give and go, allowing Leo to get up the sideline as Albert sent a through ball up the sideline through a Dallas defense that didn’t seem to read what was happening quite in time. Using his speed to get up the pitch with ease, Chu got a few feet into the Dallas box before sending a cross into the center in the direction of teammate Cristian Roldan. Although Chu was a step ahead of his defender, Roldan was not, as Dallas left back Sam Junqua had the inside positioning but his attempt to clear the cross ended up in his net for an own goal.
While there may have been a bit of fortune in play there for the Sounders, something I’m sure that they’re more than happy to accept given their struggles with scoring, that build up and play as a whole had Chu’s name all over it. Throughout the course of the match, Chu was able to generate a ton of danger on his own simply due to his play off the ball as he went on strong runs and put balls in position for his teammates to try and hammer home. As stated before and can be amplified even more after his crucial brace up in Vancouver that was a major part in beating the Whitecaps, Chu’s play this season is a major success for the club and himself. After sort of scuttling along in his first few years with the club and trying to find a groove, the Brazilian appears to have found that right rhythm and his early season run of assists to Jordan Morris wasn’t some fluke. While there are areas of his game that can certainly still be polished, Chu has been one of the best attacking players that Seattle has had this season.
Seattle Sounders FC left winger Leo Chu added another assist to his season tally in the match (Photos by Bryan Saldana)
Lead lost by lack of focus
While the chances continued to pile on and the momentum seemed to side heavily with the Sounders as the first half drew closer to an end, things took a turn three minutes before the halftime break. Dallas put together their most dangerous sequence of the entire net, which didn’t even register high on the expected goals percentile with just 0.21. The Dallas midfield was able to navigate the central part of the pitch, getting the ball out to Sebastian Lletget on the wing, who only needed to take a few steps up field before firing in an excellent ball to the middle of the Seattle box. Earlier when the Dallas midfield was moving with success and prior to the pass out to Lletget, Sounders center backs Yeimar and Jackson Ragen had pressed up and out of position for some reason, almost looking like they were trying to assist in defending Dallas up in the middle of the field. That allowed more than enough room in the Seattle backline for Dallas right winger Bernanrd Kamungo, who had a strong run up and into the center of the box for Lleget’s ball, heading it strongly off the left glove off Sounders keeper Stefan Frei.
The odd decision by both Ragen and Yeimar to press up into the play, out of position as well, is concerning not only because it allowed the goal that gave Dallas the equalizer and is part of the reason that points were split. It’s concerning because they didn’t need to move up into the play at all, given that Seattle midfielders Obed Vargas and Joao Paulo had things relatively under control. Had the Sounders backline held strong and kept their numbers in positioning, Dallas wouldn’t have been able to get that pocket of positioning for Lletget to send a ball into Kamungo and likely clears away any sort of attempt that would’ve replaced it. With only three total shots and one corner on the attacking aspect, Dallas didn’t do anything threatening to Seattle in this match. They were totally outclassed, yet because of that lapse in play, Dallas leaves Lumen Field with a point that you could argue they didn’t at all deserve.
FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes makes a finger tip save to keep the Sounders out of the net (Photo by Bryan Saldana)
Gotta be quicker than that
While yes, allowing the frustrating equalizer takes the wind out of the sails of the Sounders a bit for a few reasons, including that it was right before the halftime break, Seattle still managed to generate chances like an efficient machine. If the Sounders were able to win games with the sheer number of generated chances, they’d be well on their way to a Supporters Shield without question. Alas, this is reality, and Seattle’s chances without a finish mean nothing, which was emphasized by head coach Brian Schmetzer postgame. Outside of the own goal against Dallas’ Junqua, the Sounders put up attacking numbers of 1.33 expected goals, 17 total shots, three big chances, and a whopping 14 corners on the night. Seeing those numbers without looking at the result, you’d think that the club responsible would’ve put in an MLS record blowout of their opponent. The Sounders continuously guided themselves into prime position to put the final piece of the puzzle into its spot, but then essentially lost the piece as it slipped out of their hand to dash any sort of progress made.
The rest of Bryan Saldana’s match gallery
Substitution success?
With this new section of our Sounders recaps titled substitution success, we’ll be looking at the different replacements that head coach Brian Schmetzer makes during the match and peeking into just how well that move worked out in terms of the result and or what it may mean for that player individually. Schmetzer and Seattle only made two substitutions in total in this match, which is a bit odd considering the opportunity to get fresh legs into the game late and really sort of take advantage of a Dallas team that’s gone winless in eight of their last nine matches. Instead, the Sounders opted to remain with what they had because they believed that the chances they were generating in the second half were satisfactory enough to not warrant any switches.
The two substitutions that Seattle made, both coming in the second half, were Nico Lodeiro for Joao Paulo in the 66th minute and Jordan Morris for Leo Chu in the 71st. While it makes sense to get Paulo and Chu out considering the efforts that they had put into the match, it’s somewhat confusing to not see a name like Obed Vargas taken off in favor of a Reed Baker-Whiting or Josh Atencio, fresh younger legs that can add to the attack more than an exhausted Vargas can. While I understand that the Sounders may have been happy with the chances that they were generating into that part of the match, it’s a bit odd to not see more than just the two substitutions to try and push in that game winning goal.
Standings update
Following today’s splitting of points with Dallas, who is currently in the eighth slot of the conference, Seattle drops from third place to fourth as Real Salt Lake takes over the Sounders previous spot. With how Seattle has squandered numerous matches since May, Real Salt Lake has been able to climb the ranks and now take over a spot it seemed the Sounders could hold for quite some time. While some may look at me saying fourth in the Western Conference and think that isn’t really a bad spot at all, note that Seattle was sitting in the top two spots of the conference for near months due to the lead that they were able to build due to the success at the beginning of the season. While sure, without that context, fourth place in the conference seems just fine, considering that if they were able to execute on their chances on net and play to their actual ability, it’s very frustrating.
Given how many times they’ve dropped points and simply just failed to put away their lead league in expected goals, it’s a very frustrating and confounding thing to watch the Sounders play. Although it’s an almost entirely different situation than they were in during last season's second half after winning Concacaf Champions League, the inability to finish their shots on goal by Seattle is something that seems to have carried over. That Sounders club just couldn’t find any way to score whatsoever, and that’s the same with what we’re seeing right now give or take. A key difference may be that Seattle is generating far more opportunities this season, leading all of MLS in that category in fact, but they still can’t seem to get around the imaginary force field that’s apparently blocking their opponents net from being scored on. With veterans on a roster that’s remained largely intact, it’s a wonder how these players can continue to miss the mark over and over again like a broken record.
Quick notes
Following tonight’s draw, Sounders FC drops to fourth in the MLS Western Conference with 36 points, one point behind third-place Real Salt Lake and second-place LAFC. St. Louis continues to lead the conference with 41 points.
With 24 matches played in the 2023 MLS regular season, Seattle now focuses its attention on Leagues Cup, with the Rave Green opening Group Stage play in Leagues Cup at Real Salt Lake on July 22 and July 29 vs. Monterrey.
Sounders FC remains unbeaten in 17 straight home contests vs. FC Dallas (MLS regular-season and MLS Cup Playoffs). This streak is the longest active run of home wins in MLS against a single opponent, beating Portland’s current run over San Jose (16). FC Dallas’ last and only win at Lumen Field came in 2011.
In the all-time series against FC Dallas, Seattle moves to 14-8-9 in regular-season play.
Léo Chú’s hot streak in 2023 continues, with the Brazilian winger creating havoc to force an own goal in the 32nd minute of play by firing a cross into the area that was deflected into the back of the net by FC Dallas defender Sam Junqua. Through 23 matches this season, Chú has three goals and eight assists.
Both Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldan made their returns from Gold Cup duty with the U.S. Men’s national team, with Roldan starting the match on the right wing, and Morris entering the match as a substitute in the 71st minute of play.
In addition to Roldan’s return to the starting lineup, Stefan Frei returned to goal for Stefan Cleveland, with the former missing in action for the past two MLS matches while being placed in the concussion protocol. Head Coach Brian Schmetzer also made two other changes to the first XI, inserting Raúl Ruidíaz and Alex Roldan into the starting line for Héber and Cody Baker, respectively.
What’s next?
Following this draw to Dallas, the Sounders will have seven days until their next competition, and 36 days until their next regular season contest. A week from now, on Saturday, July 22nd, Seattle heads to a Western Conference rival in Real Salt Lake for their first match in this year's iteration of the Leagues Cup. That match has a kickoff time of 6:30PM PST at America First Field as the Sounders have their eyes set on trying to obtain another trophy to add to the club's case, but the teams finishing is an obvious area to adjust if that’s to be any sort of reality. Eight days later, Seattle will host a Leagues Cup match against Monterrey before their next regular season match on August 20th at Lumen Field against Atlanta.