Sounders, missing key players and coach, fall on road to St. Louis City

Missing several key players and their coach, the Sounders were probably going to need some good breaks to get a road win Saturday night over St. Louis City SC, the only MLS team that had not conceded a goal this season.

Instead, the Sounders got a couple of very bad breaks, and St. Louis took advantage for a 1-0 victory.

The first bad break came in the 13th minute when Souders center back Jackson Ragen slipped on the turf, falling on the ball with his hands on it.

Ragen was called for a foul and given a yellow card, but what became much more consequential was the ensuing 25-yard free kick. Eduard Löwen sent a rocket to the far-left corner of the net that Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei never had a chance to stop.

The Sounders seemingly were going to get a great chance to tie the score when they were awarded a penalty kick in the third minute of extra time only to have it overturned on replay, which was the second bad break.

The referee ruled Seattle’s Obed Vargas was fouled in the box, but that was reversed after a review when the referee determined Vargas had committed a hand ball before he was fouled.

So St. Louis survived spending much of the second half on its side of the field to become the third team to not allow a goal through four MLS games, joining the 2012 Vancouver Whitecaps and the 2007 New York Red Bulls.

Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer did not fly to St. Louis because of an illness, leaving coaching duties to assistant coach Freddy Juarez, a former head coach for Real Salt Lake.

Juarez was without several key players, including wingback Paul Arriola, who tore his ACL in a loss to Cruz Azul in a Champions Club loss on Tuesday, and forward Jordan Morris, who injured his hamstring in the same game.

Also missing Saturday were forward Pedro de la Vega, who suffered a quad injury against Los Angeles FC on March 8 and defender Yeimar because of a personal matter.

Despite that, the Sounders controlled much of the first half, leading in most of the stats.

The Sounders had a couple of good scoring chances in the first half, including in the 43rd minute when Georgi Minoungou worked his way through the St. Louis defense before taking a shot just outside the box that sailed wide right.

The Sounders were on the attack most of the second half, but despite controlling the ball on St. Louis’ half of the field, did not have a lot of great scoring opportunities.

Then, when it seemed the Sounders got the break they needed in extra time, they didn’t.

Note

Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan made his 353rd all-competition appearance, passing Zach Scott for the most all-competition appearances by a field player of any era in Sounders history.

Roldan appeared to injure his leg and was substituted for in the second half.