Bad times in the wrong Washington

The Seattle Sounders started a quick two-game road trip with a stop in the other Washington to face D.C. United on Saturday evening where they fell 2-1.

The Sounders took some time to have their first real chance, but when the moment came they capitalized. Some smart passing down the right wing between Josh Atencio, Danny Musovski and Jordan Morris sprung the latter into space where he spotted Albert Rusnák for a cutback at the top of the box. Rusnák’s initial shot was blocked, but the Sounders did well to keep the play alive as Atencio got a blocked shot and eventually the ball found its way back to Morris who found Léo Chú with a cross and Chú put it away beautifully.

After Seattle’s goal, things swung in D.C.’s favor pretty completely. In the 28th minute Jared Stroud did well to control a ball over the top with his chest with only Cody Baker and Stefan Frei between him and the goal. Baker was able to put him off balance a bit, but Stroud got around him and Frei was late to react as Stroud progressed towards goal before pulling the player down in the penalty area. Frei was shown a red card and Christian Benteke stepped up to the penalty spot where he smashed the ball into the corner to beat Andrew Thomas and tie the game.

As the first half wound down, Benteke popped up again with a towering header over the back of Cristian Roldan that flew over Thomas and put the hosts in front. The Sounders had responded well to going down a man, and were undoubtedly unfortunate to have gone behind. They went into the second half undeterred, continuing to push for the equalizer, creating plenty of chances throughout the final 45 minutes. Only Alex Bono and the post stood between Seattle and an equalizer or even something more on a number of occasions. While this felt like an improved performance, Seattle remain on the hunt for improved results.