CARSON, CALIF. – In its third game in an eight-day span, Sounders FC (11-9-7, 40 points) on Saturday earned a 2-2 road draw at Western Conference foe LA Galaxy (14-11-2, 44 points). Raúl RuidÃaz scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season, while a late own goal secured the equalizer and a road point for the Rave Green, despite a brace from Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Sounders FC continues its three-match road stretch on Friday, August 23 with a Cascadia Cup matchup at the Portland Timbers at Providence Park (7:00 p.m. PT / ESPN, YouTube TV, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM).
RuidÃaz gave Seattle a 1-0 advantage in the 42nd minute with his ninth goal of the season. Jordan Morris made a run down the near sideline and left a ball in the area for Harry Shipp, who found RuidÃaz. The Peruvian international took one touch with his right foot and buried a shot to the far-right corner of the goal. The marker was his first since July 21, and his first in a road match since June 1.
Ibrahomovic scored the first of his pair of goals just before halftime, heading in a cross from Sebastian Lletget in the 45th minute. He gave the Galaxy a 2-1 lead in the 65th minute via penalty kick, after drawing a foul on Kim Kee-hee inside the area. His ensuing kick went low and to the left, beating Stefan Frei and giving Ibrahimovic 20 goals on the season
The Rave Green saw its equalizer come in the 82nd minute, as a mis-hap between LA goalkeeper David Bingham and defender Jørgen Skjelvik resulted in a Galaxy own goal, evening the score at 2-2.
LA Galaxy was reduced to 10 men just six minutes into the match when Daniel Steres was shown a red card for denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
Following Saturday's match, Brian Schmetzer's side travels to take on Cascadia rival Portland Timbers on Friday, August 23 (7:00 p.m. PT / ESPN, YouTube TV, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM).
MATCH NOTES
- With tonight's result, Sounders FC sits tied for fifth place in the Western Conference with 40 points (11-8-7), 18 points behind Supporters' Shield-leading LAFC. The club is now two points ahead of sixth-place San Jose Earthquakes.
- RuidÃaz scored his team-leading ninth goal of the season. The marker was his first since July 21, and his first in a road match since June 1.
- Shipp recorded his third assist of the season, matching his highest single-season total since the 2015 campaign with Chicago.
- Gustav Svensson made his return to the Starting XI for the first time since July 21 vs. Portland.
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 2 – LA Galaxy 2
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Venue: Dignity Health Sports Park
Referee: Robert Sibiga
Assistants: Kyle Atkins, Jason White
Fourth Official: Mark Allatin
VAR: Kevin Stott
Attendance: 26,213
Weather: 75 degrees and sunny
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA – Raul RuidÃaz (Harry Shipp) 42’
LAG – Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sebastian Lletget) 45’
LAG – Zlatan Ibrahimovic (penalty) 65’
SEA – Jorgen Skjelvik (own goal) 82’
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
LAG– Daniel Steres (ejection) 6’
SEA – Jordan Morris (caution) 21’
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC – Stefan Frei; Kelvin Leerdam, Kim Kee-hee, Xavier Arreaga, Nouhou (Joevin Jones 69’); Cristian Roldan, Gustav Svensson (Luis Silva 74’), Harry Shipp (Handwalla Bwana 66’), Nicolás Lodeiro, Jordan Morris; Raul RuidÃaz
Substitutes not used: Bryan Meredith, Saad Abdul-Salaam, Danny Leyva, Jordy Delem
Total shots: 21 (RuidÃaz, 5)
Shots on goal: 6 (RuidÃaz, 2)
Fouls: 8 (C. Roldan, 2)
Offside: 5 (Morris, 2)
Corner-kicks: 11 (Lodeiro, 11)
Saves: 2 (Frei, 2)
LA Galaxy – David Bingham; Rolf Feltscher, Daniel Steres, Diego Polenta, Jorgen Skjelvik; Sebastian Lletget, Jonathan dos Santos, Uriel Antuna (Julian Araujo 85’), Favio Alvarez (Giancarlo Gonzalez 33’), Cristian Pavon (Joe Corona 90’); Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Substitutes not used: Matt Lampson, Dave Romney, Servando Carrasco, Efrain Alvarez
Total shots: 8 (Ibrahimovic, 4)
Shots on goal: 4 (Ibrahimovic, 2)
Fouls: 9 (dos Santos, 3)
Offside: 2 (Feltscher/Corona, 1)
Corner-kicks: 3 (dos Santos, 3)
Saves: 5 (Bingham, 5)
POST-MATCH AUDIO
Post-match soundbytes from Sounders FC Head Coach Brian Schmetzer, defender Kelvin Leerdam and midfielders Gustav Svensson and Cristian Roldan are available for download via the following link: http://sndrs.com/audio.
