The Seattle Sounders lost last weekends MLS Cup rematch against Toronto FC, dropping the match 1-0. Just a year after the Sounders won the championship and took home the MLS Cup, they are struggling to find their footing. While Toronto looks set to make a second consecutive appearance, Seattle sits at eighth place in the Western Conference with a record of 2-3-4.
Jordan Morris prepares to strike the ball.
The lone goal of the game came when striker Jozy Altidore scored from the penalty spot after drawing the penalty. He also missed a cross goal shot earlier in the game.
The game looked like a perfect opportunity for the Sounders to gain some momentum, with Toronto leaving key players at home, after playing against Orlando just days before. But it was a frustrating game for the Sounders, as they failed to put themselves in positions to score.
It also didn’t help that they had an early goal by Jordan Morris negated on an offsides call, even though the player called offsides didn’t touch the ball. It was a questionable call as to whether he affected the play, but the goal didn’t count and the Sounders never recovered.
They came out with a lot of energy, but the call seemed to take some life out of the team. On Altidore’s goal, he seemed to stop running with the ball, allowing Jair Marrufo to run into his back, but the ref gave him the call and he found the back of the net.
The Sounders found themselves close again, with the ball moving around the box and finding its way to Morris again, but he couldn’t get all the way around on the ball, and kicked it right to the goalkeeper. Clint Dempsey found himself in a similar situation, but the Toronto defense swarmed him before he had a chance to make a move. There was another controversial call, with Dempsey getting called for a handball in the box.
The rest of the game didn’t yield much. Both teams took it into each others territory, attacking, but neither got a good look at the goal.
This was the Sounders’ first loss at home since last July, their first since coach Brian Schmetzer took over.
The Sounders now have 10 points on the season, three worse than they had last year at this point. The team is looking for answers but can’t find any. Their defense is going to need to step up if they want to raise the MLS Cup again this year. With Dempsey and Morris leading the charge on offense, they should be able to score goals, but they can’t just give them right back to other teams.
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