Cristian Roldan’s 90th-Minute Winner Completes Sounders’ Comeback Over Sporting KC

MLS

Oct 1

The Seattle Sounders left it late, but they left Lumen Field with a perfect homestand. Cristian Roldan scored in the 90th minute to complete a 2-1 comeback win over Sporting Kansas City on Thursday night, giving Seattle its third straight victory in front of 28,587 fans.

Game Flow Recap: An Open, End-to-End Night

Sporting KC came out pressing, and Andrew Thomas was busy from the opening minutes. Seattle had chances of its own, including a first-half Jordan Morris goal that was ruled out for offside, but the visitors struck first. In the 44th minute, a clearance deflected into the path of André Luiz inside the box, and he drove his shot home off a Stephen Afrifa assist to give Kansas City a 1-0 halftime lead.

Brian Schmetzer turned to Sebastian Gomez at the break, and the change paid off quickly. In the 52nd minute, Roldan lofted a long ball over the Kansas City back line for Morris, who brought it down on his chest, held off his defender, and laid it off for Gomez. The midfielder ran onto it and finished past Stefan Cleveland for his first MLS goal.

Star Performer: Andrew Thomas

The comeback doesn't happen without Thomas. The Seattle goalkeeper made nine saves on a night when Sporting KC put 11 shots on target, including a diving stop on an Afrifa effort before halftime and a string of late saves as the visitors pushed for a winner of their own.

Turning Point: The Late Counter

With the game level and the clock running out, Seattle won the ball in midfield and broke. Morris carried it forward and slipped a pass between two defenders to Roldan, who had sprinted into the box. The ball deflected off a defender and then off Roldan into the net, and Lumen Field erupted.

It was Roldan's fifth goal of the season. The captain now has 48 career goals in all competitions, sixth in club history, and 82 assists, second all-time. Morris finished with an assist as well, his fifth of the season.

What It Means

The win completed a 3-0-0 homestand, stretched Seattle's unbeaten run to eight matches, and moved the Sounders up to seventh in the Western Conference at 10-9-8 with 38 points. Seattle is also unbeaten in its last five meetings with Sporting KC.

Kansas City fell to 6-18-3. The Sounders head east next, visiting the New England Revolution on October 10 before a trip to FC Dallas on October 14.