A point gained or an opportunity lost? How about a bit of both?
The Sounders entered Wednesday’s matchup against the Houston Dynamo with the road to the playoffs open before them. They had the opportunity to cap a magnificent turnaround by clinching a playoff berth with two regular season games to play. Considering Houston is the worst team in the Western Conference and had never won in Seattle, the portents weren’t exactly against them.
But the night turned away from Seattle quickly. First they couldn’t chip away at Houston’s compactness. Then they lost Osvaldo Alonso to a red card. And then it was simply about rescuing the point and moving on.
A scoreless draw? Not exactly what Seattle had in mind. But certainly not apocalyptic either.
We certainly learned a couple things from the match. Let’s have a look at three of the most salient.
A Costly Draw for Struggling Width
The Sounders’ last match was 10 days ago, against the Vancouver Whitecaps. The Sounders won that game, but they paid a toll. Alvaro Fernandez pulled up lame less than 15 minutes in and wasn’t healthy enough to go the rest of the way. Later in the same game, the Sounders lost Brad Evans to a red card, sidelining him for the next match. That happened to be this one.
Fernandez was unavailable for this one, as was Evans and each of Seattle’s top three left backs. Two, Oniel Fisher and Joevin Jones, were still out for international duty, and Dylan Remick is recovering from a concussion. Needless to say, the Sounders couldn’t afford injuries. But they certainly couldn’t afford them from the already thin wide corps.
And then Andreas Ivanschitz pulled up with a knee injury about 12 minutes in, almost the same exact time Fernandez was injured (at the same position) less than two weeks earlier. Not good news.
Sounders interim coach Brian Schmetzer used the benefit of the halftime reset to reorganize. Cristian Roldan moved up to right mid, a position he hadn’t played since the last time these teams faced off nearly two months ago. Erik Friberg paired with Alonso. Herculez Gomez moved to left mid.
None of this was ideal. Two of the four attacking positions were now out of position, and none of the wide players, save only right back Tyrone Mears, were where they wanted to be ideally. And then makeshift left back Tony Alfaro, pressed into making his first ever start, was forced out with an injury. Roldan moved to cover him, his second positional shift of the night. That left Oalex Anderson as the only true winger left on the bench, and he hadn’t played significant minutes since mid-July.
It was just that kind of evening for the Sounders.
This is not particularly good news for the final two matches against FC Dallas and Real Salt Lake. Alonso’s red means Evans, who probably would’ve played at right mid, will likely have to pull back to pair with Roldan on Sunday against FC Dallas. Schmetzer will have to hope the injuries to Fernandez and Ivanschitz especially are benign, because the width wasn’t there on Wednesday. That allowed Houston to triangulate on the middle and stomp out Nicolas Lodeiro.
When your crossing looks like this - this is 2-of-17 on both open play and set piece crossing, by the way - teams can afford to cheat inside.
Houston’s Physicality Wins Out
Houston might not have been outwardly playing for a draw, but the Dynamo were certainly happier with the result. You need look no farther than the foul count to see the manifestation.
Seattle mostly dominated the final statistical tally in every attacking category, and even after Alonso picked up his red card Houston mostly played on its heels. One area where Houston was numerically superior was in fouls. The Dynamo racked up 16 of them - including an incredible 12 in the opening 45 minutes - while the Sounders were whistled for six.
One of those six, though, irrevocably shifted the match. Alonso’s red in the 64th minute.
“I thought we were catching up,” Schmetzer said in his postgame comments. “And then the foul count is 16-6, the referee is letting little stuff go and Ozzie loses his head for half a second and it changes the entire game.”
Alonso did lose his head, if only briefly. Will Bruin tripped up Alonso from his back, and after hitting the deck Alonso immediately whirled around and went after Bruin. Alonso’s hands found Bruin’s face and neck, and that was that. Bruin earned the yellow and Alonso got his marching papers. It was a masterful bit of provocation on Bruin’s part, and Alonso, inarguably the best holding midfielder in the league right now, lost his cool.
The moment didn’t occur in a vacuum. Houston continually chipped away at Seattle for the duration, subtly avoiding cards for the most part and prodding the Sounders into mental mistakes. Center back David Horst did his best to throw Jordan Morris off by pushing him onto his left and also pushing him in a more literal sense. Like Bruin’s moment, it worked. Morris was as quiet as he’s been all season on Wednesday.
The Dynamo didn’t have the horses to match up technically, so they did their best to do so physically. The Sounders owned more than 60 percent possession even after going down a man and couldn’t find the breakthrough goal. You’d have to say Houston succeeded on that front.
Redemption Deferred
The Sounders had a massive amount to play for on Wednesday and a seemingly open invitation to get it done. Houston’s been a matchup problem for Seattle all year, but both of the earlier matches were played in Houston. It was reasonable to think, with both Lodeiro and Morris returning to the starting lineup after truncated national team stints, the Sounders could snag a win here and clinch a postseason berth.
It did not happen. And the reason that might cause the Sounders faithful to sweat for the next few days lies within the schedule. And specifically in the final two opponents.
Seattle has to go to FC Dallas to face arguably the league’s best team on Sunday on a short week of rest. And they have to do it banged up and thin at a few key positions. And then they host an admittedly struggling Real Salt Lake side at home that nonetheless still poses a few unique matchup issues for the Sounders. Both teams are in playoff positions.
There isn’t exactly reason for panic yet. The Sounders own their own fate the rest of the way in the sense that a win in either of their final two matches will get them into the postseason. The Timbers can’t make up that much ground in just two games with another Sounders win in the mix, something this Dynamo draw did earn Seattle. The Sounders, remarkably enough, are 9-0-6 in September and October over the last two seasons.
But this did add a bit of pressure to those final two. Win and you’re in; that doesn’t change. But let’s say, on the optimistic side of bad, the Sounders draw in Frisco and Portland picks up all three at home on Sunday against the Colorado Rapids. Seattle is suddenly in a position where a draw in the season finale could leave them at home for the postseason.
Still plenty to play for as the Sounders ponder if Wednesday was a point gained or an opportunity lost or perhaps a bit of both.
