Seattle Sounders win 3rd straight knocking off New York City FC
New York City forward Jo Inge Berget, left, kicks the ball in front of Seattle Sounders defender Nouhou during the first half of an MLS soccer match, Sunday, in Seattle. Credit: AP / Ted S. Warren
SEATTLE — Cristian Roldan, Gustav Svensson and Harry Shipp all scored their second goals of the season, and the resurgent Seattle Sounders ended New York City FC’s four-match win streak with a 3-1 victory Sunday.
Seattle completed a busy eight-day stretch with its third straight victory. It was a crucial nine points for Seattle, which is trying to climb out of a terrible first-half to the season and get back into contention for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Seattle is unbeaten in its past six matches since losing to rival Portland on June 30.
Roldan scored in the 36th minute making a smart run through the penalty area without going offside and finding himself on the end of Kelvin Leerdam’s deflected pass. Roldan’s right-footed shot beat Sean Johnson to give Seattle the advantage.
Svensson doubled the lead in the 51st minute, beating Johnson from 25 yards out. Nicolas Lodeiro left the pass for Svensson making a late run and Johnson could barely get a hand on the strike. Shipp’s goal in the 86th minute was the clincher after NYCFC’s Jesus Medina scored midway through the second half.
The three goals allowed Seattle to finally crack the 20 goals for the season, becoming the last team in MLS to reach the mark. Lack of offense was behind much of Seattle’s struggles the first half of the season, but has picked up in the past three games with the addition of new designated player Raul Ruidiaz to the lineup. Ruidiaz had the only goal in Seattle’s 1-0 win at San Jose earlier in the week and was a constant threat against NYCFC without finding a goal.
NYCFC vaulted into second place in the Eastern Conference thanks to its four-match win streak and was trying to pull off the difficult task of winning on both coasts just a few days apart. NYCFC won at Orlando City on Wednesday, but was unable to do the same in Seattle. Medina’s goal was his fifth of the season, but NYCFC struggled to create scoring chances.
NYCFC had gone 434 minutes until Roldan’s goal, a span of more than four matches. The last goal NYCFC had allowed came in the 52nd minute of its 3-2 loss to Chicago on Jun 30.
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