Jordan Morris scored his eighth goal of the season and Yeimar scored the game-winner in the 61st minute, pacing the Seattle Sounders to a 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake at CenturyLink Field on Wednesday.
It was the fifth win in six league matches for the Rave Green since the MLS restart, pushing Seattle to 9-3-3 and allowing them to retain their spot at the top of the Western Conference table.
The Sounders struck first on a well-worked team goal in the 28th minute, starting when Nicolás Lodeiro sprung Cristian Roldan down the right side with a ball over the top. Roldan sent in a cross that was dummied by forward Will Bruin into the path of Morris, who slotted home the finish for the 1-0 lead.
Yeimar then added a second just past the hour mark, heading home a pinpoint free-kick delivery from Lodeiro to double the lead – the second goal of the season for the big Colombian, who also netted in Seattle’s last match against RSL.
The visitors would pull one back on a 69th-minute own goal, but the Sounders would manage to bare down and see out the 2-1 final.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
JORDAN MORRIS: MVP CANDIDATE
There’s still a lot of games left, but it might be time to start talking about it. Seattle’s standout Homegrown has been producing at a ridiculous clip all season, stuffing the stat sheet to the tune of eight goals and seven assists in 15 games. Those are MVP numbers and while he has some worthy competition from the likes of Toronto FC’s Alejandro Pozuelo and LAFC’s Diego Rossi, he’s very much in the discussion.
DON’T SLEEP ON WILL BRUIN
Starting with Raúl Ruidíaz away on international duty, Bruin continued to show his skillset can have ripple effects on the whole team – something that his teammates and Head Coach Brian Schmetzer both pointed out after Bruin’s last start in a 3-1 win over the LA Galaxy on September 27. The veteran is a proven goal-scorer but it’s hold-up play and ability to occupy defenders to free up space for his teammates that makes him such a multi-dimensional threat. Watch the first goal back, too, and you’ll see his unselfish dummy to set Morris up with the finish. With Ruidíaz away the next few games, the Sounders are in good hands up top.
FIRST DEPTH TEST PASSED
The own goal made it nervier than the Sounders probably would have liked to close it out, but in the end, that’s another three points. That’s not a bad way to start off a lengthy stretch without three key pieces due to international call-ups in Ruidíaz, Gustav Svensson and Xavier Arreaga that will require guys to step up. Next up is an away date with a familiar foe in LAFC on Sunday (4:00 p.m. PT; ESPN, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM), which is always a tough matchup, but a prime opportunity to keep it rolling.
