Sounders rally to equalize, but fail to find another goal in draw with FC Cincinnati
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – In a match that was as must win as the last few have been for the Sounders, Seattle yet again came up just short. With their chances of keeping their postseason streak alive dwindling, Seattle had to rally after giving up the first goal. Playing down a man, the Sounders failed to score a winner after Fredy Montero’s equalizer, and now need even more outside help to reach the playoffs.
Cristian Roldan made his return from injury in the match (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Uninspired first 45 makes match seem grim
With how critical this match was to the Sounders hopes to remain eligible for the postseason, you’d expect them to come out with more urgency. The first 45 minutes of the match were ugly for Seattle, looking sloppy with the ball and failing to generate much of any dangerous chance on net. Cincinnati took advantage of this sloppy play and lack of attack from the Sounders in the 24th minute.
Cincinnati caught Seattle napping defensively, as the Sounders backline was too high up. Yeimar tried to clear a through ball ahead, lunging to keep a potential assist away but failed to get enough of a hit. The ball was only slightly redirected, giving Brenner Da Silva one on one with Stefan Frei. Da Silva beat Frei easily, and Cincinnati had taken an early lead against a Seattle side that looked asleep.
Seattle came out flat in the first half (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Montero makes another moment
A true Sounders original, since signing with Seattle this past offseason, Fredy Montero has added more moments in a rave green kit. The attacker was part of the uninspiring showing in the first half, putting up a weak shot on net in the 24th minute that eventually turned into the Cincinnati score. Saving his heroics for the latter part of the match, Montero lit the spark that awoke Lumen Field in the 58th minute.
Montero wasted little time after receiving a cross field pass from Kelyn Rowe, firing away with two defenders nearby. The heat seeking missile of a shot was clinically placed in the nearside top corner, beating Cincinnati keeper Roman Celentano. With a few touches and a laser of a shot, Montero created another memory and tied the match up.
Too little, too late
After the Montero missile, things were looking up for the Sounders for a bit. Seattle looked much better in their attack, and it seemed like the sense of urgency had been realized. Just eleven minutes after the Sounders equalized, though, Seattle made things difficult for themselves. Kelyn Rowe was shown a red card in the 69th minute, knocking the Sounders down to ten men. The Sounders did their best to remain resilient, putting multiple shots on net and forcing the issue. Cristian Roldan, returning from a little over a month with injury, nearly had a go-ahead header goal, just for it to glance to the side.
Seattle had several opportunities late in the match to find a match winner, but couldn’t put anything else past Celentano in net. Even with the mixture of veterans and younger players, Seattle had the opportunities late to win this game. Regardless of the makeup of their starting eleven, the Sounders needed to come out to begin this match with a better mindset. Will Bruin said it best postgame, “There is no poor us. This is the situation that we put ourselves in... It is literally do-or-die now.”
What’s next?
Seattle will now head on the road in a do-or-die situation, traveling to play Sporting Kansas City. Despite Sporting's place in the standings, Kansas City has not lost in its past five matches. Seattle and Kanas City will duke it out with a kickoff time of 2PM PST on Sunday, October 2nd inside of Children’s Mercy Park.