SEATTLE — Harry Shipp scored the game-winning goal in the 71st minute on Sunday to send the Seattle Sounders to a 2-1 victory over visiting Atlanta United at CenturyLink Field.
Raúl Ruidíaz scored the first goal for Seattle in the 58th minute, while star forward Josef Martínez netted the lone tally for Atlanta. The Sounders move to 10-5-5 and 35 points through 20 matches, catapulting into second place in the Western Conference standings.
Ruidiaz opened the scoring after he collected a pass from midfielder Cristian Roldan and chested the ball down, before lobbing a rainbow feed to himself over the head of Atlanta defender Miles Robinson and cashing home the finish past goalkeeper Brad Guzan.
The visitors struck back just minutes later, however, after Josef Martínez got on the end of a corner kick from Pity Martínez and blasted a pinpoint header past Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei, knotting the contest at 1-1 on 65 minutes. But Shipp responded with the game-winning tally in the 71st, capping off a perfectly executed counterattack started by Jordan Morris with a headed finish past Guzan.
The Sounders will host Germany’s Borussia Dortmund in an international friendly on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. PT; JOEtv, YouTube TV, El Rey 1360 AM | TICKETS) before hosting the rival Portland Timbers on Sunday, July 21 (6:30 p.m. PT; FS1, YouTube TV, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM | TICKETS).
THREE TAKEAWAYS
SHIPP STEPS UP
Making the start with Víctor Rodríguez sidelined with a hamstring injury, Shipp played the hero role for Sunday’s match with the match-deciding tally. The veteran has quietly racked up three goals and two assists in nine starts this season, and has eight goals and six assists to his name overall in the regular season since joining the Sounders ahead of the 2017 campaign.
RUIDÍAZ IS BACK
Ruidíaz was gone for much of the summer on international duty with Peru for the 2019 Copa América, but he couldn’t have picked a much more resounding way to reestablish himself. Sunday’s finish was a class maneuver from the 28-year-old striker, the type of improvisational flair that made him a dominant presence in Liga MX before he signed with Seattle midway through 2018. He continues to score at a torrid clip in MLS play, as this marked the 17th goal Ruidiaz has bagged in first 22 MLS regular-season starts with the club.
LIKE OLD TIMES
It’s been a while since the Sounders have been at full strength, but all their departed internationals are now back with the club. It felt like old times at CenturyLink on Sunday, as Ruidíaz was joined by Morris and Roldan in the Starting XI in their returns to action after their run with the United States national team at the 2019 Gold Cup.
