Josh Atencio scored the first goal of his MLS career to break a second-half tie and help the Seattle Sounders pull away to a 3-0 victory over visiting St. Louis City on Saturday night.
Substitute Raul Ruidiaz added his first goal of the season for Seattle (5-1-1, 16 points), which won its third in a row and its third of the season by multiple goals.
And St. Louis defender Jake Nerwinski also put the ball into his own net on a late own-goal that put the match out of reach.
Ruidiaz’s tally was his 60th all-time for the Sounders in the MLS regular season, putting him two ahead of teammate Fredy Montero for most in club history.
Heber came off the bench late for Seattle for his first appearance since he scored once in each of the Sounders’ first two games.
Roman Burki made four saves for St. Louis (5-2-0, 15 points), but also committed an error on the play leading to Ruidiaz’s tally.
The visitors lost their second straight following an MLS-record five consecutive victories to open an expansion season. They’ve now been held scoreless in consecutive games after scoring 15 times in those first five wins.
After an even first half, Seattle began to assert control in the second.
Atencio dragged a low shot wide of the left post in the 52nd minute during a sequence of open play. Six minutes later, Nicolas Lodeiro attempted an audacious volley directly from a corner kick that sailed only a few feet over the crossbar.
Atencio would finally break through for the hosts in the 65th after an attack that began with a diagonal ball out of the back.
After a half-clearance from the St. Louis defense, Alex Roldan and Nicolas Lodeiro combine to set up Atencio, who unleashed a 25-yard strike that appeared to wrongfoot Burki. The goalkeeper was also possibly screened on the play by Jordan Morris and his own defender.
Lodeiro and Roldan were again involved six minutes later to help Ruidiaz’s breakthrough. This time, Burki also unintentionally played a part in the setup, spilling Roldan’s cross to set up a simple finish for the Peruvian forward.
–Field Level Media
