For 50 minutes Sunday it was easy to be skeptical about the Seattle Sounders' chances of advancing to the Western Conference final. Now, it's hard to be skeptical about their chances not only of moving on, but their chances of lifting the MLS Cup.
FC Dallas executed its game plan well in the first half, with goalkeeper Chris Seitz making a few quality saves to send things scoreless into the break. But once Seattle scored, it found another and another to take a 3-0 win Sunday and a large lead into next weekend's second leg.
Dallas coach Oscar Pareja, without playmaker Mauro Diaz because of a season-ending Achilles injury, deployed a system designed to keep the middle congested in hopes of stopping forward Jordan Morris and the Sounders' own playmaker Nicolas Lodeiro. It worked for a half. But in the second half, thanks in part to Joevin Jones getting forward more than he did in the opening portion of the game, Seattle broke it down.
Once the wall had cracked, it started to crumble. Seattle added two more goals, both scored by Lodeiro — one assisted by Morris and the other Jones' second assist of the night — and is sitting pretty. Pareja seemed reluctant to come out of the system he was playing, with the second goal coming when the team pushed up on a set piece, something it had identified (correctly) as a weakness of the Sounders. But even after the second goal, no changes came. The Sounders found a third.
Here it is: The #Sounders 7-minute scoring spree. #SEAvDAL https://t.co/mBEs1MMUPk
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) October 31, 2016
"The first goal took us by surprise. We had the game controlled. We did not expect for the game to become unbalanced just by that play," Pareja said. "We had center backs in the box. … We were neutralizing crosses in the first half. After that goal, I thought we should have been more mature. We should have had more composure on the field and not have let them score the second one. We should have been much better."
After going up three goals, the Sounders were able to see things out. That burst of goals in such quick succession, against a team that has one of the league's strongest defenses, sent a stern reminder of the potential the Sounders have. Yes, this team needed a bit of fortune to make it into this round, but it was cohesion that got it the lead it now boasts going into the second leg.
Rookie sensation Morris didn't see his superb Sunday showing pay off with a goal, but he'll be happy enough with his assist and 90 percent passing rate. Meanwhile, Lodeiro emphatically broke out of what could be considered a slump only because of the high standard he set for himself when he arrived in July. The Sounders moved to 10-2-4 since the Uruguayan's arrival, and he's logged six goals and eight assists.
This is a different team with Lodeiro in, and Morris has benefited from Lodeiro being part of it. The number of touches Lodeiro gets in the middle benefit everyone around him, and while the plan was to stop those two attackers in the middle, FCD couldn't keep the potent pair from having their say.
Sunday night showed that the teams with the higher numbers by their names, the ones that did worse in the regular season, certainly have bite. But none of their bites was harder than the Sounders'. Combine the attacking prowess the team has with the CenturyLink Field crowd behind it and you have a tough opponent to see off in the next round.
