Sounders start strong, but everything falls apart in road loss to D.C. United

Everything had to go perfectly Saturday.

With two games in four days — the lineup decided for the second because it’s a continuation of a match that was delayed in March — Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer had little room to fiddle with lineups. And the players had little room for error, especially in their push to end a two-game winless skid.

The plan was executed precisely in the opening minutes against D.C. United.

Adjustments for red-card suspensions put forward Jordan Morris on the right wing and pulled Leo Chu from the bench to the left wing. The duo revived their 2023 connection, Morris sending a cross to Chu for a goal off a header in the 14^th minute.

Then everything fell apart.

In the following 20 minutes, Schmetzer had to make substitutions for an injury and a red card. Seattle played down a player for an hour of a 2-1 loss at Audi Field. The comeback win was a first in 28 matches for D.C.

“We absolutely dominated with 10 men in the second half,” Sounders keeper Andrew Thomas said. “We’re disappointed to not pick up points because we could’ve got three. But there’s so much belief … what we showed is we have a squad that’s so unbelievably hungry to get results.”

There were five lineup and some positional changes for the Sounders (1-5-3) on Saturday. Free-agent pickups in forward Danny Musovski and center back Jon Bell made their debut starts for Seattle, the latter also getting his first minutes overall for the season. Josh Atencio and Cody Baker also received the nod from Schmetzer.

Baker and Bell were replacements for defenders Alex Roldan and Jackson Ragen, who served a one-game suspension for being shown red cards in a loss to Vancouver. Nouhou was benched for missing a team meal and film and more experienced center back Nathan was unavailable due to a hip injury suffered in training.

Roldan’s older brother Cristian slotted in a right back with Baker on the left. Bell played alongside Yeimar Gomez Andrade at center back.

“I was really amped to come back home and play,” said Bell, who’s from Rockville, Md. “It was special to have my family and friends out there, it gave me a bit more boost to work my hardest.”

Bell performed well on the back line, but the team started to unravel in the 17^th minute with Musovski needing on-field medical attention. After a long discussion with trainers, he walked off unassisted with a hip injury. Schmetzer couldn’t call on Raul Ruidiaz because the forward must start against Philadelphia for the resumed match Tuesday.

Schmetzer opted for midfielder Obed Vargas, who’ll also have to start Tuesday. But the 18-year-old likely will be able to handle the short turnaround. Vargas did play the full 90 against Vancouver.

Seattle handled D.C.’s pressure momentarily. Stefan Frei had a supreme arm-save in the 22^nd minute on a left-footed shot from United forward Jacob Murrell.

Six minutes later, Frei was sent off with a straight red card for denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. D.C. midfielder Jared Stroud had Baker beat on a long ball pass into the box. The keeper was inches outside his box when he made a play to secure the ball, instead clipping Stroud as he tried to compose a shot at the open goal.

Frei is the fourth Sounders player to be ejected from a match this season. It’s the most since 2017 when the team had six during the MLS slate. The club record is 10 during the 2013 season.

Schmetzer subbed off Chu to put Thomas in goal and the Sounders played the remainder of the match down a player.

“Obed for Musovski certainly was maybe a little conservative, but we were up 1-0 away from home,” Schmetzer said. “I didn’t want to take Leo Chu out, he was good. But we had to do that.”

Thomas’ first assignment was to face United striker Christian Benteke for the penalty kick. He sent a right-footed shot high over Thomas’ reach for the equalizer in the 32^nd minute.

Benteke was given some talcum powder to throw in the air like NBA legend LeBron James to celebrate the goal. Benteke’s go-ahead score also conjured up images of James.

The 6-foot-3 Belgian posterized Cristian Roldan, who’s 5-8, dunking a powerful header over Roldan in the 45^th minute. United midfielder Mateusz Klich helped set up the play with a diagonal pass to defender Aaron Herrera for the cross.

Schmetzer made another substitution at halftime to put Ruidiaz in for Morris.

D.C. (3-3-4) was sloppy in their defending and gave Seattle opportunities to level the score. Atencio hit the post in the 68^th minute while Ruidiaz had a recycled shot blocked in the same minute.

Roldan also had a chance in second-half stoppage time off a feed from Vargas that was saved by United keeper Alex Bono.

“The reality is we’ve won one game,” said Schmetzer, whose club is 13th in the 14-team Western Conference. “If the team quit then you could say Brian has lost it, lost the group. I didn’t see that.”

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