Paul Rothrock scored in the 43rd minute and the Seattle Sounders forged a 1-1 tie with the visiting Columbus Crew on Sunday.
Rothrock’s third marker of the season came as the result of some brilliance by Kalani Kossa-Rienzi. He collected a long pass down the right side, dribbled inside a defender and gained the middle. Rothrock ran unfettered towards the left post, took the pass and tapped it between goalie Evan Bush and the post.
Kossa-Rienzi was disqualified in the second minute of stoppage time after drawing his second yellow card. Columbus created two good chances against its 10-man opponent but Stefan Frei denied Aziel Jackson and came off his line on a set piece in the seventh minute of stoppage time to break it up.
Frei suffered a head injury on the play and was stretchered to an ambulance and off the field just after referee Ismir Pekmic whistled the fixture over.
After the game, the Sounders posted an update from coach Brian Schmetzer, who said the goalkeeper was indeed being evaluated for a head and neck injury. Schmetzer added Frei was alert when he was taken into the ambulance and is “fine.”
As for the game, Seattle (8-6-6, 30 points) created more quality chances, even though Columbus (10-3-8, 38 points) outshot it 10-9 and put four attempts on frame to the Sounders’ two. But aside from Rothrock, it simply didn’t finish clinically enough.
Seattle could have scored in the third minute when Jesus Ferreira was presented with a point-blank chance in the box. But Ferreira airmailed it well over the crossbar.
Given that early reprieve, the Crew found their footing and began exerting their normal possession game. It paid off with a well-executed counter-attack that netted Diego Rossi the game’s initial goal in the 27th minute.
Jacen Russell-Rowe got Ibrahim Aliyu the ball on the left side with ample space. Aliyu attacked and saw Rossi running towards the right post. A good touch enabled Rossi to poke a shot past Stefan Frei and inside the right post.
Rothrock had a golden opportunity in the 52nd minute for a brace that would have put the Sounders ahead but Bush left his line and came up with a clutch save to keep the game level.
–Field Level Media
