The Seattle Sounders’ 13-match unbeaten streak finally met its end on Saturday evening, as the Sounders dropped a 2-0 result to Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium courtesy of goals from Jefferson Savarino and Luke Mulholland.
Neither side managed to break through in a scoreless first half, with Savarino finding RSL’s best look with a fourth-minute distance shot that deflected off the crossbar. Will Bruin and Victor Rodriguez each had opportunities of their own to find the game’s opening goal in the first half for Seattle, but neither could quite convert against RSL stalwart goalkeeper Nick Rimando and the game would enter halftime in a scoreless deadlock.
Savarino found RSL’s first tally of the night, though, with a nifty finish past Stefan Frei in the 51st minute. Mulholland adding the insurance 15 minutes later at the back end of a counter attack to seal the result.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
Unbeaten run (finally) over
Going into Saturday’s match, the Sounders hadn’t lost in three months, their last defeat coming at the hands of New York City FC at Yankee Stadium on June 17. It was a remarkable run, but one that was also probably going to end some time before the end of the regular season in the parity-driven world of MLS. The 13-matches mark a club record, with the Sounders sporting 6-0-7 record over that stretch before Saturday’s defeat.
V-Rod getting more comfortable
The Sounders already know that they’ll be without second-year forward Jordan Morris due to a hamstring strain he picked up earlier this month, meaning the newly acquired Rodriguez will be tasked with helping to keep the attack afloat in his absence. The Spaniard is still looking for his first goal in Rave Green, but he got close, testing Rimando throughout the evening as much as any Sounder. If Rodriguez keeps knocking on the door, the numbers should follow soon enough.
‘Caps at CenturyLink up next
With two road matches against FC Dallas and RSL now behind them, the Sounders now get to return to the friendly confines of CenturyLink Field for their next match where the squad has a dominant 8-1-5 record on the season. Their opponent? The high-flying Vancouver Whitecaps, who will be looking to continue what has been a remarkable recent ascent up the Western Conference table – meaning the match has both Cascadia Cup and postseason seeding implications. Clear your calendars.
