Jordan Morris and Hassani Dotson scored first-half goals and the Seattle Sounders defeated visiting Minnesota United 3-1 on Saturday night.
Paul Arriola also tallied and Albert Rusnak had a pair of assists for the Sounders (9-9-8, 35 points), who won their second in a row and extended their unbeaten streak to seven matches (2-0-5). Goalkeeper Andrew Thomas made one save.
Anthony Markanich scored and goalie Drake Callender made five stops for Minnesota (7-12-8, 29 points), which lost its fifth straight.
Trailing 2-0, the Loons got on the board in the 57th minute on a scintillating left-footed volley by Markanich from 12 yards out after taking a cross from Bongokuhle Hlongwane on the right wing. Markanich’s shot overpowered Thomas, going off the goalie’s leg and into the left side of the net.
Kelvin Yeboah got the secondary assist after dribbling the ball down the right-center of the field before pushing the ball wide to Hlongwane.
Arriola helped clinch the victory with a goal in the 83rd minute on a shot from just outside the top right of the 6-yard box into the upper near corner of the net. Rusnak and Sebastian Gomez assisted.
Minnesota’s Maurice Malone appeared to have a tap-in after taking a pass from Markanich with Thomas out of his net in the 89th minute, but defender Jackson Ragen cleared the ball off the goal line.
The oft-injured Morris opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Rusnak chipped a pass over the Loons’ back line and Morris raced onto the ball just outside the top right of the 6-yard box, putting a low, sidewinding shot past a diving Callender and just inside the far post. Cristian Roldan got a secondary assist.
It was the first tally for Morris, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, since an April 25 match against FC Dallas.
Dotson, who joined Seattle in the offseason after seven years in Minnesota, made it 2-0 in the 35th minute. Rusnak’s corner kick from the left wing was headed on net by Morris, with Callender making a diving save. The ball hit Dotson in the chest and dropped to the ground, and he poked a left-footed shot into the open net from 3 yards out.
–Field Level Media
