Obed Vargas and Nouhou Tolo each had a goal and an assist as the Seattle Sounders defeated visiting St. Louis City 4-1 Saturday night in a Western Conference match.
Danny Musovski and Albert Rusnak also scored and substitute Ryan Kent had a pair of assists for the Sounders (4-3-4, 16 points), who extended their unbeaten streak to four matches (3-0-1).
Marcel Hartel tallied for St. Louis (2-5-4, 10 points), which is winless in its past seven matches (0-5-2).
Vargas broke a 1-1 tie in the 61st minute after a nifty give-and-go from Kent just outside the top left of the penalty area. Vargas’ shot from 12 yards out deflected off defender Timo Baumgartl and inside the near post.
Musovski helped clinch the victory by scoring in the 81st minute. He took a cross from Nouhou with his back to the net, spun, then blasted a shot off the leg of goalkeeper Ben Lundt and into the right side of the net. It was Musovski’s fourth straight match with a goal as he fills in for the injured Jordan Morris (hamstring).
Nouhou tallied in second-half stoppage time off a pass from Kent to send the crowd into a frenzy.
The teams traded penalty kicks four minutes apart just past the midway point of the first half.
St. Louis took the lead in the 29th minute after Sounders defender Yeimar Gomez Andrade was called for tripping as Cedric Teuchert dribbled along the end line. Hartel took the penalty and used a hop-step on his way to the ball, then rolled it into the right side of the net after seeing goalkeeper Stefan Frei dive the other way.
A couple of minutes later, Seattle’s Paul Rothrock took a pass on the left side of the penalty area on a counterattack and dribbled back toward the center of the pitch just inside the top of the 18-yard box. Rothrock tried to split three defenders and went down after a push to the back from Baumgartl. Referee Lorenzo Hernandez immediately pointed to the spot and Rusnak blasted a shot down the middle as Lundt went to his left.
The Sounders outshot St. Louis 31-7, with a 9-4 edge in attempts on frame.
–Field Level Media
