Seattle Sounders forward Danny Musovski wasn’t even sure he was going to be needed early in Saturday night’s contest against the San Jose Earthquakes. Jordan Morris was back in the starting lineup, but a collision with ‘Quakes goalkeeper Daniel inside the match’s opening quarter-hour turned out to be much more severe than it had originally looked.
As he was warming up on the sidelines, Musovski couldn’t see how bad the injury was. But Morris, who Head Coach Brian Schmetzer confirmed postgame will need surgery on his AC joint in his shoulder, was forced to exit the match, leaving Musovski to take over in his stead.
“It’s extremely unfortunate and I feel really bad for him especially with the injuries he’s dealt with his season,” Musovski said of Morris. “In that moment, I tried to get as much of a warmup as I could and get out there and try and contribute.”
It took just 12 minutes after his entrance for Musovski to get on the score sheet, the first of two goals on the evening, to erase a 1-0 deficit and help pace the Sounders to a 3-2 home win.
“It’s good to have everybody stepping up when their moment is called,” said Musovski. “That [first] goal is huge because the longer the game went with them being up 1-0, it was going to put us in a tough situation…Deep down, we knew we were the better team, so as long as we could tie the game we knew we were eventually going to pull away.”
Musovski is having a career year in his second season in Seattle since joining from Real Salt Lake. The 29-year-old Las Vegas native has a career-high eight goals in roughly 1,100 minutes this season, splitting his appearances between the starting lineup and as a substitute.
“Moose is creeping up there,” said Schmetzer. “Credit to him. He’s been a valuable backup in a lot of moments this year. It’s unfortunate that Jordan is back on the injury list. We’ll need to rely on him and make sure that he continues to perform well.”
Earlier this year, Musovski scored in a span of five consecutive games, something only three other Sounders players have ever accomplished. His ability to find the ball in crucial areas has been influential in his tremendous production.
“It’s been a good year,” said Musovski. “A big credit to that has been the service into the box. Albert [Rusnàk] did a really good job to serve that ball in [on the first goal]…The second goal was just a great ball from Pedro [de la Vega], and for me it was really easy, just get it on target.”
Musovski will likely get the nod at the No. 9 position next Saturday when the Sounders head East for an inter-conference matchup with Atlanta United at Mercedes-Benz Stadium (4:30 p.m. PT; Watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV). The match will be Seattle’s final MLS contest before beginning its League Cup campaign on July 31, so a crucial three points will be up for grabs for Musovski and the Sounders, who are riding a five-match MLS unbeaten run since returning from the FIFA Club World Cup.
“As a forward, most of the time you’re going to be critiqued on what you do inside the box,” said Musovski. “For me, it’s about making sure I have good movement. Maybe I might not touch the ball for five to 10 minutes, but as long as I can be lethal in those few moments that I get in the game and try to put it in the back of the net, that’s the most important thing.”
