The Seattle Sounders drew FC Cincinnati 1-1 on Tuesday at Lumen Field behind goals from Brenner and Fredy Montero. The draw was just the Sounders’ fourth in 32 league matches this year.
FC Cincinnati opened the scoring in the 24th minute when Luciano Acosta played Brenner in behind, and the Brazilian forward tucked away his 15th goal of the season.
The Sounders nearly equalized in the 35th minute when Will Bruin’s header on a cross in the box was parried away by goalkeeper Roman Celentano.
Seattle found the leveler in the 58th minute when Kelyn Rowe picked out Montero on the right edge of the box. The veteran Colombian then unleashed a strike to the near post for his fourth goal of the season.
The Sounders were dealt a blow in the 69th minute when Rowe was sent off for denial of a goalscoring opportunity at the top of the box.
Cincinnati nearly took the lead in the 76th minute, but Stefan Frei made a fantastic point-blank save on Brandon Vazquez from six yards out.
Sérgio Santos had a chance to steal all three points for Cincinnati in the third minute of stoppage time, but his one-timed shot from a few yards out sailed over the crossbar.
The Sounders move to ninth in the Western Conference table on 40 points with two matches remaining. Seattle is five points behind Minnesota United for the seventh and final postseason spot.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
Depth tested
The Sounders were missing six internationals – Jordan Morris (United States), Raúl RuidÃaz (Peru), Alex Roldan (El Salvador), Nouhou (Cameroon), Xavier Arreaga (Ecuador) and Reed Baker-Whiting (United States U-19s) – who were away on national team duty. Captain Nicolás Lodeiro was also suspended because of yellow-card accumulation.
Roldan returns
A positive sign was the return of Cristian Roldan, who came on as an early second-half substitute. He had been out since Aug. 23 after undergoing groin surgery. Roldan has four goals and five assists in 23 matches this season.
Two to go
The Sounders will head to Sporting Kansas City on Sunday (2:25 p.m. PT; FS1, FOX Deportes, 950 KJR FM, El Rey 1360AM) for their final away match of the campaign before heading home to face the San Jose Earthquakes on Decision Day (2:18 p.m. PT; FOX 13+, Prime Video, Univision Seattle, 93.3 KJR FM, El Rey 1360AM | TICKETS).
