SEATTLE – Jordan Morris scored twice, Herculez Gomez added one of his own and the Seattle Sounders cruised to a 3-0 victory over West Ham United of the English Premier League in a Tuesday night international friendly at CenturyLink Field.
Gomez staked the Sounders to the lead with a 42nd-minute penalty kick, while Morris struck twice in a two-minute span in the second half for the Sounders, who got their first victory in five all-time tries against an EPL opponent.
With the victory, the Sounders also improved to 3-5-2 in their 10 international friendlies since 2009.
Andreas Ivanschitz almost gave the Sounders a first-half lead in the 23rd minute after a deflection off of Oalex Anderson set him up with a look at the West Ham goal. But Hammers’ goalkeeper Adrian managed to block the attempt and keep the contest scoreless.
West Ham’s Marcus Browne had perhaps the best look of the half for the Hammers in the 40th minute, teeing up a distance shot from just outside Seattle’s penalty box, but Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei laid out to make the save.
Seattle would take the lead in the 42nd minute, after Gomez collided with Adrian in the West Ham box and drew a penalty kick whistle from referee Chipalo Street. Gomez slotted the ensuing look from the spot by Adrian, giving the hosts the 1-0 advantage heading into halftime.
After overhauling their lineup with 10 substitutions, the Hammers almost equalized shortly after second half kickoff when substitute Antonio Martinez found himself with an open look on Sounders substitute ‘keeper Tyler Miller off a breakaway. Miller was up to the task, however, deflecting the shot away with a reaction save to avert the threat.
The Sounders then doubled their lead in the 70th minute, when Anderson got his foot to a Zach Mathers free kick that was initially saved by Hammers’ substitute ‘keeper Raphael Spiegel. But Morris pounced on the rebound and poked the ball into the net, giving the hosts the 2-0 lead.
Morris struck again just one minute later after he was put in on goal on a pinpoint through ball from Joevin Jones, finishing the breakaway attempt past Spiegel to give the Sounders the 3-0 lead that would hold as the final.
With Tuesday’s friendly in the rearview mirror, the Sounders will now try to transfer the form over to MLS play, where they’ll return on Saturday in a home matchup with the LA Galaxy at CenturyLink Field.
