SEATTLE — The Seattle Sounders hosted FC Dallas on Saturday night and split the points following a frustrating 1-1 draw. Seattle had the bulk of the chances, with good looks early on created by Léo Chú but balls set up for Raúl Ruidíaz and Cristian Roldan just didn’t come off.

Then in the 32nd the Sounders broke through, once again with Chú setting it up. Albert Rusnák played Chú in behind the defense and he played a ball across the face of goal intended for Cristian Roldan. Fullback Sam Junqua tracked Roldan’s run and got in front of him, but his final touch betrayed him as he put the ball beyond goalkeeper Maarten Paes for an own goal.

Dallas answered 10 minutes later, when Sebastian Lletget’s cross was headed in by Bernard Kamungo. Nouhou had tracked Kamungo into the middle, but drifted into space as the cross came in and no one else picked up the runner leaving him wide open. Stefan Frei got a hand to the shot, but couldn’t keep it out of the goal.

Seattle nearly had an answer — twice — almost immediately, but Rusnák couldn’t quite get around Paes. The GK denied Rusnák, but gave up a dangerous rebound that fell to Ruidíaz but the striker’s touch betrayed him and Paes was able to collect.

The Sounders had the bulk of the chances in the second half, but as has so often been the case recently they just couldn’t find the back of the net. Jackson Ragen had a close look just after the hour mark, but Paes made a good save to tip his header over the bar. The best chance of the half came in the 78th minute, as two substitutes each nearly gave Seattle the lead. First Jordan Morris got his head on a Cristian Roldan cross, but the GK made a good save to deny him, then Nico Lodeiro reacted first on the rebound but his sliding shot was blocked and cleared. In the end the Sounders had to settle for a frustrating draw despite a return of some crucial players and an early lead. They’ll be back in action next Saturday against Real Salt Lake in Leagues Cup.

Key moments

12’ — Seattle get their first real look of the game as Rusnák plays an excellent ball for Chú, who tries to lay it off for Ruidíaz but the ball gets caught under his feet.

22’ — Cristian Roldan connects with a Chú cross at the back post, but his shot hits the post. Alex Roldan gets the rebound and takes a good shot that’s deflected out for a corner.

32’ — Rusnák plays Chú through once again, and he hits a ball across goal for Cristian, but Sam Junqua cuts in front and puts it in for an own goal. Sounders take the lead! 1-0

42’ — Dallas tie the game up. Bernard Kamungo nails an open, diving header that Frei gets a hand to but can’t keep out. 1-1

43’ — Seattle are down at the other end with a dangerous opportunity. Rusnák attempts to round the GK but is stopped and Ruidíaz takes too big of a touch on the rebound.

61’ — Jackson Ragen nearly gets on the scoresheet, rising up to connect with a cross from João Paulo, but Maarten Paes tips it over the bar.

72’ — Nico Lodeiro gets in behind the Dallas back line and plays a ball inside, but Paes is able to claim it before any real danger comes from it.

75’ — Rusnák has a go from outside of the box with the defense closing in, but his low shot misses wide by a yard.

78’ — Jordan Morris has his header denied at the doorstep by Paes, then Lodeiro jumps on the rebound but his shot is blocked as well.

89’ — Rusnák plays a great ball for Alex Roldan running into the area, and Roldan attempts to play it back across but the ball is blocked and eventually put out for a corner.

90’ — For a second it looked like Obed Vargas had given Seattle the lead as he takes a shot from deep off of the corner, but his effort goes just wide of the upper 90.

Quick thoughts

Goofy goals: One of the stranger things about this season has been the oscillation between being a strong defensive team that doesn’t give up goals easily and seemingly being desperate to let the other team score the most frustrating goals possible. When this team is at their best every person on the field is working to make life hard for the opposing side, applying pressure and making challenges in the pursuit of clean sheets while Stefan Frei locks it down between the posts. When they’re not at their best, though, they give up goals like the one Dallas scored. The center backs pushed up into midfield, the midfield didn’t drop in to support, Nouhou tracked his runner into the middle then never passed him off and instead stepped into an in-between space where he neither pressured the crosser or had any chance of blocking the cross, and then that runner crushed his header into goal. This team is probably going to reach the playoffs, but that volatility could be the difference between going to the playoffs and actually doing something there.

Fixed menu, no substitutions: Okay, Brian Schmetzer is not a finicky chef, this isn’t even a restaurant, but when we’re talking about the same things game after game I have to find some way of entertaining myself in these recaps. In the third game in just over a week, the team started the same midfield three for the seventh consecutive game, and made four total changes from the game on Wednesday as they re-introduced Cristian Roldan to the lineup and played a nearly first-choice lineup. After the first half, lacking fresh ideas and fresh legs while pushing for a winner, Schmetzer and his staff only made two substitutions – bringing on Jordan Morris and Nico Lodeiro for Chú and João Paulo. I don’t know, necessarily, that the answer in this game was left sitting on the bench against Dallas — although I think Josh Atencio has repeatedly made a pretty good case for himself — but I also don’t think that leaving those options on the bench is a particularly good way to find out. This team ran into issues with injury last year as a result of over-using the same guys game after game, and I hope that doesn’t happen again.

Roldan’s return: This team is just fundamentally different when Cristian Roldan is on the field. He is tenacious, working tirelessly on both sides of the ball in a way that makes life that much easier for everyone around him. His chemistry with the guys around him, particularly his brother and right-side partner Alex Roldan, allows for a level of fluidity in play that no one else on the team can offer, and his technical ability and intelligence are frankly underrated. The run he made on Seattle’s goal, forcing the own goal, is one that no one else in the squad makes, and that’s just scratching the surface of what he offers. Late in the second half, as the Sounders passed the ball around from side to side looking for an opening, Cristian was often one of if not the only person making off-ball runs to create space for other players or to give them another passing option. He makes the press function and provides a massive balance to the danger posed by who ever is lined up on the left. He’s what makes the Sounders tick, and it’s a gift to have him back.

Did you see that?!?

He won’t get on the scoresheet for it, but it’s good to have Cristian Roldan making those runs again.

He said what?!?

One stat to tell the tale

84 — It’s been 84 days since the Sounders last won back-to-back home games, beating St. Louis City FC and then Minnesota United on April 22.