Sounders Tie Toronto on Quick Morris Equalizer
By Ben Renner
The Sounders eked out a road point against Toronto FC after forward Jordan Morris scored only moments after TFC took a 1-0 lead.
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The Sounders‘ defense held strong against the potent attack of TFC, led by reigning MLS MVP Sebastian Giovinco, until the 60th minute, when Toronto’s Jordan Hamilton cleaned up a Giovinco miss to give TFC a 1-0 lead.
It was easy to throw up your hands and suffer another road loss and another shutout as the Sounders’ scoreless streak continued. For 247 consecutive minutes, the Sounders hadn’t scored a match goal. Based on what we’ve seen from this team at times this season, the 1-0 TFC lead seemed insurmountable.
But only moments after the ensuing kickoff, Morris took a long pass deep into TFC territory. Surrounded by three TFC defenders, he used three touches to find the side netting with a screaming shot to tie the game 1-1 with the smoke from the fireworks still drifting over the field and eventually earn the Sounders a road point.
The Sounders salvaged a point despite missing captain Brad Evans and star forward Clint Dempsey. Dempsey was rested by coach Sigi Schmid to help him recover from his five-game Copa America vacation. Schmid held Evans out with a calf injury. In a comment before the game, Schmid said that Evans will likely be healthy enough to play against the LA Galaxy on July 9th.
Maybe Schmid has finally found a lineup that works. The midfield, anchored by Erik Friberg, together with Osvaldo Alonso and Cristian Roldan, distributing the ball up to the attackers and controlling possession, a problem that has plagued them in recent weeks. The new alignment instituted by Schmid has had mixed results so far for the Sounders.
We’ll see if the Sounders can start rolling again from their newfound momentum. They will face the LA Galaxy next weekend.