Nicolas Lodeiro scored a highlight-reel golazo in the 84th minute, but Chris Wondolowski bagged the equalizer at the death, forcing the Seattle Sounders to settle for a 1-1 draw in their Western Conference road matchup against the San Jose Earthquakes at Avaya Stadium on Saturday.
The sides battled to an eventful but scoreless deadlock until Lodeiro’s strike, which came off a rebound following a free kick by teammate Clint Dempsey. The tally looked to have the Sounders headed for what would have been an impressive road victory, but Wondolowski spoiled the party with a vintage, tap-home finish from the longtime Sounders nemesis. He now has 11 career goals in 19 games against Seattle, the most goals against the Sounders by any player.
The Sounders were dealt an early blow just 15 minutes in when center back Roman Torres had to leave with what was diagnosed as a left hamstring strain and was replaced by Swedish offseason signee Gustav Svensson.
Seattle did regain the services of Dempsey in its Starting XI for Saturday’s match after he was deployed as a substitute against Atlanta United last Friday while recuperating from U.S. national team duty. Right back Oniel Fisher also started the match after missing last week’s game with a hamstring injury.
Both sides had looks at the game’s opening goal in the first half, but neither managed to convert. Midfielders Jahmir Hyka and Simon Dawkins each had shots trickle just wide of Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei in the first 20 minutes for San Jose, while Ozzie Alonso and Cristian Roldan each had looks of their own that they couldn’t manage to sneak by Quakes ‘keeper David Bingham.
It was the third draw of the season in five matches for the Sounders, who moved to 1-1-3 with six points. Seattle will return to action next Friday in their first Cascadia Cup match of 2017 with a road matchup against the Vancouver Whitecaps at BC Place.
