Coming out of a game where there were at least some positives, the Seattle Sounders immediately got off to a bad start. Although they seemed to recover from the 2nd minute goal, they then completely fell apart toward the end of the first half. It wasn’t just that they allowed two goals after the 41st minute, it’s that the usually solid defensive squad suddenly let San Diego FC repeatedly run in behind.

The second half was a bit better, but at no point did the Sounders look like they were going to ever get back into the game before suffering their worst loss of the season. The 3-0 defeat to San Diego FC also drops them to 1-3-3 on the year, equalling their disastrous start to the 2024 season.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Sounders were also forced to pull Alex Roldan and Albert Rusnák to injuries.

The match started about as poorly as it could when San Diego worked a short corner that ended with Hirving Lozano feeding Jeppe Tverskov, who scored in the 2nd minute.

The Sounders did seem to recover after that and seemed to be causing San Diego some trouble with an unusually aggressive high press. While the Sounders were able to create some possession and keep San Diego from clear chances, they weren’t creating many good looks of their own.

That came back to bite them as the game headed toward halftime. Lozano was again in the middle of the action, this time spraying a ball to Anders Dreyer on the wing. Dreyer cut it back to Anibal Godoy, who was making a trailing run, and he finished well inside the near post.

The wheels seemed to come off at that point and San Diego was suddenly getting behind the Sounders’ defense with remarkable ease. When Lozano finally scored at 45+3′, it was the third breakaway chance San Diego had in first-half stoppage time alone.

The second half was somewhat better, but only in comparison to the disaster that was the first half. The Sounders managed to create a few decent scoring chances, but most of those came after the match was too late to have made much of a difference.

Key moments

2’ – Goal. San Diego works a nice play off a short corner with Hirving Lozano finding Jeppe Tverskov for a shot in the box that beats Stefan Frei. 1-0.

6′ – Chance! Albert Rusnák gets free for a decent look from about 10 yards out but he shoots just wide.

9′ – Luca de la Torre gets a good look from about 12 yards out but his shot goes wide.

10′ – Shot! Paul Rothrock is able to put his laces through a ball at the top of the penalty area but it’s saved easily.

25′ – Blocked! Jesús Ferreira picks off a pass and sends in a cross that Rothrock runs onto. His shot is well taken but Anibal Godoy is able to deflect it out.

33′ – Alex Roldan is forced out of the game with a muscle injury and replaced by Kalani Kossa-Rienzi.

41′ – Goal. Just as the Sounders seemed to be getting control of the game, San Diego struck on the counter. Lozano started it with a good ball to Anders Dreyer on the wing and he cut it back to Anibal Godoy for a nice finish just inside the post. 2-09.

45+1 – Chance. Lozano gets behind Kossa-Rienzi but his shot goes high.

45+2 – Save! Dreyer gets behind the defense and forces Stefan Frei into a big save

45+3 – Goal. Lozano doesn’t waste this one as he gets behind the defense again off a pass from Jasper Löffelsend. Frei gets his hand to it, but can’t keep this one out.

Halftime – Danny Leyva replaces Albert Rusnák, who apparently suffered an adductor injury.

61′ – Wide. Yeimar gets on the end of a free kick but his header flashes wide.

62′ – Danny Musovski and Pedro de la Vega replace Ferreira and Minoungou.

80′ – Reed Baker-Whiting replaces Paul Rothrock.

87′ – Chance! Danny Musovski gets a look on the doorstep after the Sounders force a turnover in box but CJ Dos Santos makes a big save.

88′ – Chance! Sounders force another turnover deep in San Diego’s end but Kalani Kossa-Rienzi skies his open shot from about 19 yards out.

Quick thoughts

No offensive creativity: After an encouraging start to the season that was capped by a five-goal performance against LAFC, the Sounders have reverted back to their offensive struggles of last year. This was the fourth straight game in which the Sounders have scored one goal or fewer and they’ve now been shut out three times in their past four. Once again, they put themselves in dangerous enough positions to score, but their quality in and around the box is just totally lacking.

Uncharacteristic positioning: As concerning as the offense is, the defense was something we thought we could accept as a given. For the last two seasons, the Sounders have specialized in limiting their opponents’ scoring opportunities. A big part of that is their field awareness and rest-defending. Both were in short supply against San Diego. On all three goals, the Sounders seemed to lack awareness of what San Diego were trying to do, where danger was coming from and were caught flat-footed.

Where to go from here: The Sounders are in the midst of what could be a season-defining stretch of games. Five of the Sounders’ next seven games are on the road. on paper, there’s a lot of winnable games. But they’ve no erased any wiggle room they might have had. They have now tied last year’s start through seven games and certainly don’t want to be in position where they need a nearly perfect second half to salvage their season.

Notable quote

Paul Rothrock: “This has to be rock bottom so far this year. Brian talked about it in the postgame, but things have to change, things have to shift, mindsets have to be better.”

Player spotlight

Jesús Ferreira: There have been plenty of times when Ferreira looked to be every bit the player the Sounders had been hoping to acquire, but he was particularly off his game tonight. On the first goal, he seemed very late to recognize that San Diego was attempting a short corner and was caught out of position. Offensively, he never looked dangerous and only had 23 touches, including just two inside the San Diego penalty area. The expectation was that Ferreira would be a key component in helping lift the Sounders but he has so far been unable to do that.