Raúl Ruidíaz scored a first-half golazo and Jordan Morris scored two goals one-minute apart to start the second half, pacing the Seattle Sounders to a 3-1 romp over visiting LAFC at CenturyLink Field on Sunday.
It was the second straight win for the Rave Green after their 3-0 rout of the Portland Timbers last weekend at Providence Park, and a three-point result for Seattle in their first game back at CenturyLink since the MLS restart following the MLS is Back Tournament.
Ruidíaz opened the scoring in the 11th minute with an absolute scorcher that the Peruvian striker lined up from deep outside the penalty box and lashed past LAFC goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer, giving the Sounders a 1-0 lead they wound up taking into the halftime break.
Morris would push the lead to 3-0 in a wild sequence at the beginning of the second half, first striking in the 48th minute after collecting a long ball from Nicolás Lodeiro and rounding the keeper for an easy finish.
Then, immediately after the restart, the Sounders got the ball on a counterattack that saw João Paulo find Morris with a pinpoint ball in front of goal for an easy tap-in to push it to 3-0 before the contest had even reached the 50th minute.
LAFC’s Diego Rossi scored a point-blank finish at the back end of a counterattack on the hour mark, but the Sounders saw out the rest of the match and secured the 3-1 final.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
RUIDÍAZ IS ON FIRE
Ruidíaz was already feeling good coming into the match after striking for two great goals in Seattle’s rivalry victory over the Timbers last weekend, and he wasted no time keeping his red-hot form going in this one. Simply put, he’s one of the very best finishers in all of MLS, and when he gets hot like this, there’s not much that can be done to stop him. Just sit back and enjoy the show.
…AND SO IS JORDAN MORRIS
Morris is on fire right now, too, but if you want to get technical, his hot streak really dates back to last season. But his two-goal-in-one-minute outburst in this contest was a special sequence even by his standards. When he’s eating at this rate, it takes Seattle’s attack to another level.
HOME SWEET HOME
Look, there’s no way you can have the same type of event at the CLink without the 40,000-plus fans that would ordinarily pack it every game. But even with that knowledge, it was a refreshing sight to see the Sounders take the pitch at their home stadium nearly six months after they last did so against Columbus Crew SC. In the end, it was fitting that the Sounders celebrated their homecoming with a three-point result.
