Five-star Sounders dominate depleted LA Galaxy for 6th straight win

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:28 am

The Seattle Sounders extended their club-record MLS winning streak to six games and matched their largest margin of victory in the league with a 5-0 defeat of the short-handed LA Galaxy on Saturday.

The Sounders, are unbeaten in their past nine games with seven wins and two draw, matching the club's second-longest such run since it joined MLS.

The Galaxy, who are winless in their past four matches, played without star forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic and all three of their designated players.

Jonathan dos Santos (groin), Giovani dos Santos (leg) and Romain Alessandrini (knee) were all nursing injuries, while Ibrahimovic, who has scored 15 goals in 16 starts since joining the Galaxy, didn't make the trip because of CenturyLink Field's artificial turf.

"I'm not taking away anything from LA or even anything from our performance because I don't really care," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said.

"On any given day, the team that LA brought -- they could have beat us. That's the parity in MLS. So we're pleased with the result and it just pushes us three points closer to making sure we're in the playoffs."

The Sounders opened the scoring in the third minute. Nicolas Lodeiro's cross from the right wing after a short corner kick found Chad Marshall at the top of the six-yard box.

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The veteran defender outmuscled two Galaxy defenders to the ball and put a header past diving LA goalkeeper David Bingham and inside the right post. It was Marshall's second goal in as many games.

The Sounders made it 2-0 in the 18th minute following a Galaxy defensive miscue. Gustav Svensson intercepted a clearance from deep in the Los Angeles end and made a one-touch pass to Harry Shipp, who was alone at the top of the 18-yard box. Shipp controlled the ball and put a right-footed shot from 15 yards past Bingham, who did a split in an attempt to make the save.

In the 50th minute, a Lodeiro cross for Raul Ruidiaz deflected off Galaxy midfielder Servando Carrasco and into the net, and the Sounders kept pouring it on.

Cristian Roldan buried a 10-yard shot in the 59th minute, off assists from Shipp and Lodeiro. Ruidiaz capped the scoring in the 67th, when he picked off a pass near midfield and dribbled all the way into the box, where he put a left-footed shot from 15 yards into the lower-right corner.

Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei made five saves to post his fifth shutout of the season.

"We're still fighting for a playoff spot," Shipp said. "I think for us, yeah, we've had a run of very good games but we're not going to view it like that. We're not going to get complacent. I think the confidence is there. Also, we're trying to fight for as high a playoff seed as possible and I think for us, we've done a good job the last two months of doing that."