SEATTLE — Don’t look now, but here they come again.
The Seattle Sounders throttled the LA Galaxy 5-0 on Saturday at CenturyLink Field to run their win streak to a club-record six matches. The emphatic result pushed the unbeaten run to nine matches that, at game’s end, had catapulted the Sounders above the playoff line for the first time all season.
“Well, I’m very proud of the entire organization, I’ll say it like that,” said Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. “The team in that locker room obviously put the work in. It’s been a fairly consistent group. Harry [Shipp] did great. He scored a goal, he was rewarded today. The whole group of players – and I’m not just talking about the 18 on any given Sunday, I’m talking about the whole group of 30 guys – they all put it in.
“Garth [Lagerwey] does a good job, Chris [Henderson] does a good job,” he continued. “We’ve all been very proud of what we’ve accomplished at this club. So, for me, it’s just another statistic that you guys can discuss and digest. For us, it’s just a testament to the hard work that everybody in this organization does on a daily basis.”
Yes, this LA Galaxy was absent five starters, including forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is second in MLS in goals scored this season with 15. Yes, the Galaxy defense is one of the worst in the league with 47 goals conceded. But the Sounders smelled blood from the opening whistle and shut the door on LA before it ever had a chance to try and bunker for a point.
Ozzie Alonso jumps up to celebrate Chad Marshall’s opening goal | USA Today Sports
Seattle compiled its largest margin of victory since a 5-0 win over FC Dallas in 2016 and continued its best form of the season. On the current unbeaten streak, the Sounders have outscored their opponents 18-5, continuing to dominate defensively while the offense has found its rhythm.
“Yeah, we understand the circumstances that are surrounding the Galaxy,” said Schmetzer. “So, that’s their issue…That team did what they were supposed to do [and] did what they had to do to put the game out of reach. All the credit goes to them. They again came up with a performance.”
Shipp scored his third goal of the season and has had one of the best individual midseason turnarounds of anyone on the team. He continues to earn praise from Schmetzer and the coaching staff, and rightly so. Seattle is 7-0-1 in Shipp’s last eight starts, but he knows there is still more work to be done.
“We’re still fighting for a playoff spot,” Shipp said. “We’ve had a run of very good games, but we’re not going to view it like that. We’re not going to get complacent.”
