SEATTLE — The Seattle Sounders got a goal from Jonathan Campbell but conceded three times, eventually falling 3-1 to Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund in an international friendly between the sides at CenturyLink Field on Wednesday.
Marius Wolf, Paco Alcácer and Jadon Sancho all scored for the Bundesliga giants, who were in town as part as of their United States preseason tour ahead of the start of their 2019 league campaign.
The Sounders nearly took the lead twice in the first half, once off a headed effort from Raúl Ruidíaz that rung the crossbar in the 28th minute. Ruidíaz then looked to have the opener seven minutes later off a nifty chip over Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki, but he was ruled offside and the goal was waved off.
Wolf scored the opener in the 37th, lashing a perfectly placed distance finish past Sounders goalkeeper Bryan Meredith, giving Dortmund a 1-0 lead that they would take into halftime. Alcácer then doubled that just after second half kickoff after picking off a pass from Meredith and lofting a gorgeous chip into the net.
Seattle struck back in the 55th minute, however, off a headed finish from Campbell off a corner kick from Joevin Jones. But Sancho provided the decisive blow in the 77th after making a charging run and niftily sliding the finish home past Meredith, sealing the 3-1 final scoreline.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
GOYAL DEBUTS
The Sounders got a first look at one of the club’s bright young prospects on Wednesday, as eight-year-old rookie goalkeeper Bheem Goyal made his First Team debut in the contest. It was a big stage for the young goalkeeper’s first action, but he rose to the occasion, making an early save on a Dortmund shot in just the first minute before dishing a pinpoint feed to teammate Xavier Arreaga. If the kid keeps this up, he might just push Stefan Frei for the starting role.
RUIDÍAZ IS LOCKED IN
He didn’t technically find the scoresheet, but it’s safe to say Ruidíaz is in the zone right now. Coming off his highlight-reel golazo in Seattle’s 2-1 win over Atlanta United in MLS play on Sunday, he was just inches from finding two more goals on Wednesday, but got denied by the woodwork on the first chance and found himself just a hair offside on the second. And that was in just 45 minutes of action before he subbed off for the evening. Now healthy and back from international duty, the Peruvian looks primed for a big second half of the season.
BACK TO BUSINESS
Wednesday’s match was certainly a good spectacle for the 37,722 on hand to take it in, with plenty of star power taking the field for the visitors, but now it’s back to business for Seattle, who played the fixture in between two of their biggest MLS matches of the season. Next up is a massive Cascadia Cup clash with the Portland Timbers on Sunday July 21 (6:30 p.m. PT; FS1, YouTube TV, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM | TICKETS). Those matches are always a spectacle in their own right, and this one doesn’t figure to be any different.
