The Seattle Sounders defeated Liga MX’s Club Puebla 4-3 on penalty kicks after a scoreless draw in regulation on Wednesday night at Lumen Field in the Quarterfinals of the Leagues Cup. Sounders goalkeeper Andrew Thomas made two massive saves in the shootout to seal the win.
Paul Rothrock had the Sounders’ first real chance in the 15th minute after a good bit of interplay between him and Pedro de la Vega. The Argentine laid a perfect ball into Rothrock’s run into the box on the left side, and Rothrock tried to cut the ball back to the middle of the goal from the end line but it was kicked away from Puebla goalkeeper Julio González.
The Sounders dominated a first half bereft of any real chances with 75% possession and six shots, but none on target. Puebla forced the only save of the first half with a long shot from Fernando Monárrez in the 26thminute that offered little trouble for Thomas.
Puebla had the best chance in the opening hour when Emiiano Gómez was played through into the box in the 60th minute, but his left-footed effort trickled just wide of the near post.
Alex Roldan clipped a shot from 25 yards out in the 64th minute that left González glued to his spot, but the shot was just a bit too high and cleared the crossbar.
Seattle’s best chance of the evening came in the 71st minute when Jesús Ferreira looked to receive the ball in the box before it was deflected over his head. Ferreira spun and in one motion took the volley out of the air, but his attempt missed wide left.
The Sounders were dealt a self-induced blow in the 76th minute when Danny Musovski received a yellow card before showing dissent to the referee and was shown red to reduce Seattle to 10 men.
Regulation ended scoreless and the match went straight to penalties. Cristian Roldan stepped up for Seattle’s first attempt and pinged the right post before Thomas denied Ricardo MarÃn on Puebla’s first attempt.
Alex Roldan opened the scoring in the top half of the second round before Esteban Lozano equalized.
Jackson Ragen stepped up and buried his attempt in the top half of the third round before Owen González converted to make it 2-2.
Ferreira fired his effort home to give Seattle a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth round before Monárrez scored to level it at 3-3.
Obed Vargas converted in the top half of the fifth frame to give Seattle a 4-3 lead before Thomas dove to his left and denied Nicolás DÃaz to win the match for Seattle.
The Sounders will play the winner of the LA Galaxy and CF Pachuca, who are playing in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, in the Leagues Cup Semifinals. Seattle joins fellow MLS clubs Inter Miami and Orlando City SC in the Semifinals after they defeated Tigres and Toluca, respectively.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
Survive and advance
It wasn’t as convincing as any of the Sounders’ previous three wins in Phase One of the Leagues Cup, but the wins all count the same as the Sounders advance to the Leagues Cup Semifinals.
Thomas plays hero
Thomas proved yet again why he’s one of the best penalty kick shot-stoppers in Major League Soccer, making two more saves in addition to his clean sheet on the evening.
Back to MLS play
The Sounders return to MLS action on Sunday when they host Sporting Kansas City (6:15 p.m. PT; FS1, FOX Deportes, Watch on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV | TICKETS).
