Seattle Sounders defeat Orlando City SC 2-1 behind goals from Raúl Ruidíaz, Handwalla Bwana

SEATTLE — Raúl Ruidíaz and Handwalla Bwana scored in either half to pace the Seattle Sounders to a 2-1 home victory over Orlando City SC at CenturyLink Field on Wednesday.

Chris Mueller found a second-half tally for Orlando to make for an interesting finish, but the Sounders held the Lions off the scoresheet the rest of the way.

Ruidíaz found the opener in the 19^th minute, capping a beautifully worked sequence started by midfielder Harry Shipp with an easy tap-in finish off a cross from left back Brad Smith, giving the Sounders the 1-0 first-half lead.

Bwana bagged the winner in the 68^th minute after coming on for Jordan Morris, guiding a Nicolás Lodeiro cross into the net to make it 2-0. Mueller cut that lead in the 75^th minute, but the Sounders held on to move to 6-0-2 at home so far this season. The Sounders moved into sole possession of second place in the West with 25 points from 12 matches.

BACK ON THE BOARD

It’s been a while since Ruidíaz has found the scoresheet in MLS match, as he missed five matches with a heel injury, but he got back to his old ways with Wednesday’s goal. It was the fourth tally of the season for the Peruvian striker, who has now scored 14 times in 21 regular-season games since joining the Sounders halfway through last season.

MORRIS EXITS

It wasn’t all positive for the Sounders, as forward Morris was forced from the contest in the 52^nd minute with a leg injury. A timeline for his recovery should be clearer in the coming week, but Seattle may have to operate without its 24-year-old attacker for at least some of its upcoming four-game road trip.

BWANA TIME

Bwana made the most of his opportunity, with his second-half game-winner marking his first goal of 2019. With both of Seattle’s starting wingers now nursing injuries (Víctor Rodríguez left the Houston match last weekend with a left hamstring strain), Bwana will almost certainly be one of the faces tasked with stepping up and filling the void. The University of Washington product has plenty of talent and flair, as evidenced by his shift on Wednesday.