
Sounders FC and FC Dallas Battle to 1-1 Draw at Lumen Field
August 5, 2021 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Seattle Sounders FC News Release
SEATTLE, WASH. - Fredy Montero bagged his 64th career goal in all competitions for Seattle Sounders FC (9-3-6, 33 points), but Franco Jara equalized in second-half stoppage time for FC Dallas (4-7-6, 18 points) in midweek action at Lumen Field. With Sounders FC's draw and Sporting Kansas City's win tonight at Los Angeles FC, Seattle and Sporting are level atop the Western Conference with 33 points each. Sporting holds the total wins tiebreaker (10 victories to Seattle's nine).
Sounders FC took the lead in the 72nd minute via a free kick from João Paulo that found the head of Fredy Montero. The Colombian recorded his fourth goal of the season and his 51st all-time strike in regular-season play. For Montero, he continues to add to his club-leading total, scoring 64 goals in all competitions for the Rave Green, more than any other MLS Sounder in the club's history.
However, the Hoops equalized at the death when Nkosi Tafari sent a ball into the area that rattled around at the top of Seattle's six-yard-box, eventually finding the foot of Franco Jara, who was able to tap it in from point-blank range in the 91st minute.
Seattle now takes a rare weekend off from league play, as the club prepares to host Liga MX powerhouse Tigres on Tuesday, August 10 at Lumen Field (7:00 p.m. PT / ESPN2, TUDN, El Rey 1360 AM). The Rave Green are competing in Leagues Cup - the official annual single-elimination tournament featuring clubs from MLS and Liga MX, Mexico's topflight league - for the first time, with a 4-8-2 all-time record against Liga MX clubs, all coming in Concacaf Champions League play.
MATCH NOTES
Following tonight's result, Seattle moves to 33 points on the season. With Sounders FC's draw and Sporting Kansas City's win tonight at Los Angeles FC, Seattle and Sporting are level atop the Western Conference with 33 points each. Sporting holds the total wins tiebreaker (10 victories to Seattle's nine). Sporting also has one match in-hand on the Rave Green.
Fredy Montero bagged his fourth goal of 2021 on Wednesday night, good for second on the club's roster in scoring behind Raúl Ruidíaz (11 goals). Montero now has 51 regular-season goals for Sounders FC, and 64 total strikes in all competitions for the Rave Green, more than any player in team history.
Montero's goal in the 72nd minute of play was his fifth against Dallas in his career, tied for the all-time Sounders FC lead in scoring against the Hoops (Lamar Neagle also has five goals).
With a free-kick assist on Montero's goal, João Paulo earned his sixth assist of 2021. The Brazilian playmaker is now tied for third in MLS in overall assists.
In MLS regular-season play, Sounders FC moves to 12-7-8 all-time against FC Dallas, including a 9-1-3 mark at home (Seattle has outscored Dallas 30-9 in those matches at Lumen Field). The two sides are also familiar postseason opponents, meeting eight times dating back to 2014. Sounders FC is 4-2-2 all-time against Dallas in those contests.
Cristian Roldan made his return to Sounders FC's starting lineup for the first time since July 4, having helped the United States Men's National Team hoist the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup on Sunday over Mexico. Along with his brother Alex, Roldan was named to the 2021 MLS All-Star Team this morning, with the best of Major League Soccer facing off against the best of Liga MX on August 25 at Banc of California Stadium. Alex Roldan made his international debut for El Salvador this summer, appearing in all four of his nation's Gold Cup matches, scoring one goal.
In addition to the Roldan brothers, four other Sounders were named to the MLS All-Star squad this morning. Raúl Ruidíaz, João Paulo, Yeimar Gómez Andrade and Nouhou joined Alex Roldan and Cristian Roldan on the 28-man roster that will face the Liga MX All-Stars at Bank of California Stadium. This marks the first MLS All-Star appearance for each of the six Seattle players, who were all selected via the fan, player and media vote. Notably, the simultaneous All-Star Game selection of both Alex and Cristian Roldan marks the first time a pair of brothers have been named to an MLS All-Star Game in the same year.
Club captain Nicolás Lodeiro made his first matchday 18-man roster since May 2 versus the LA Galaxy, coming on as a substitute for Kelyn Rowe in the 87th minute of play. The Uruguayan playmaker has been out due to right knee surgery and is now available for selection by Head Coach Brian Schmetzer. A mainstay for the Rave Green, the appearance marked just the second time since Lodeiro joined the club in mid-2016 that he has not started (123 regular-season contests).
MATCH SUMMARY
Seattle Sounders FC 1 - FC Dallas 1
Wednesday, August 4, 2021
Venue: Lumen Field
Referee: Fotis Bazakos
Assistants: Nick Uranga, Kevin Lock
Fourth Official: Joshua Encarnacion
VAR: Daniel Radford
Attendance: 31,628
Weather: 84 degrees and clear
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA - Fredy Montero (João Paulo) 72'
FCD - Franco Jara (Nkosi Tafari) 90'+1'
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
SEA - Brad Smith (caution) 87'
LINEUPS & STATS
Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Cleveland; Alex Roldan, Xavier Arreaga, Shane O'Neill, Yeimar, Jimmy Medranda (Brad Smith 60'); João Paulo, Cristian Roldan, Kelyn Rowe (Nicolás Lodeiro 87'); Raúl Ruidíaz, Fredy Montero (Will Bruin 73')
Substitutes not used: Spencer Richey, Ethan Dobbelaere, Reed Baker-Whiting, Danny Leyva, Josh Atencio, Abdoulaye Cissoko
Total shots: 16
Shots on goal: 6
Fouls: 11
Offside: 1
Corner-kicks: 3
Saves: 2
FC Dallas - Jimmy Maurer; Bressan, Ryan Hollingshead, Nkosi Tafari; Facundo Quignon, Edwin Cerrillo (Andres Ricaurte 76'), Paxton Pomykal (Freddy Vargas 78'), Ema Twumasi; Jesús Ferreira (Bryan Acosta 66'), Szabolcs (Jader Obrian 66'), Ricardo Pepi (Franco Jara 76')
Substitutes not used: Brandon Servania, Matt Hedges, John Nelson, Phelipe
Total shots: 10
Shots on goal: 3
Fouls: 13
Offside: 2
Corner-kicks: 5
Saves: 5
Major League Soccer Stories from August 5, 2021
- New York Red Bulls Add Uruguay U-20 Defender Lucas Monzón on Loan from Danubio FC - New York Red Bulls
- Sounders FC Adds Brazilian Attacker Léo Chú and French Winger Nicolas Benezet on Transfer Deadline Day - Seattle Sounders FC
- Rapids Trade Nicolas Benezet to Seattle Sounders FC - Colorado Rapids
- Sporting KC Transfers Gianluca Busio to Venezia FC - Sporting Kansas City
- Minnesota United Exercises Buyout of Guaranteed Contract on Defender Ike Opara - Minnesota United FC
- Earthquakes Acquire Forward Jeremy Ebobisse in Trade with Portland Timbers - San Jose Earthquakes
- Timbers Acquire $1.167 Million in General Allocation Money from San Jose for Forward Jeremy Ebobisse - Portland Timbers
- Austin FC Midfielder Tomás Pochettino Voted MLS Player of the Week for Week 17 - MLS
- Whitecaps FC Acquire 19-Year-Old Ecuadorian Attacking Midfielder Pedro Vite - Vancouver Whitecaps FC
- Sergio Ruiz Is 'Eager to Get Started' in Charlotte - Charlotte FC
- Orlando City SC Forward Nani Voted MLS Player of the Week for Week 16 - MLS
- Sporting KC Signs Midfielder Jose Mauri - Sporting Kansas City
- New York Red Bulls Trade Midfielder Florian Valot to FC Cincinnati - New York Red Bulls
- Chicago Fire FC Agrees to Transfer Midfielder Przemysław Frankowski to Ligue 1 Club RC Lens - Chicago Fire FC
- Kieran Gibbs Named to MLS Team of the Week - Inter Miami CF
- Ryan Madden Joins Austin FC as Vice President of Communications & Media - Austin FC
- Sam Vines Joins Belgian Side Royal Antwerp F.C. - Colorado Rapids
- LA Galaxy Acquire Serbian International Forward Dejan Joveljiæ from Bundesliga Side Eintracht Frankfurt - LA Galaxy
- Houston Dynamo FC sign midfielder Adalberto "Coco" Carrasquilla on loan from FC Cartagena - Houston Dynamo FC
- Houston Dynamo Loan DF Jose Bizama to Charlotte Independence - Houston Dynamo FC
- Sounders FC and FC Dallas Battle to 1-1 Draw at Lumen Field - Seattle Sounders FC
- LA Galaxy Earn 1-0 Shutout Victory over Real Salt Lake at Home on Wednesday Night - LA Galaxy
- LAFC Suffers 4-1 Home Loss to Sporting Kansas City - Los Angeles FC
- Timbers, Earthquakes Play to 1-1 Draw at Providence Park - Portland Timbers
- Quakes extend unbeaten streak to six, Chofis scores fourth MLS goal - San Jose Earthquakes
- Real Salt Lake Drops Narrow 1-0 Loss to LA Galaxy - Real Salt Lake
- FC Dallas Scores Late Equalizer to Earn Point on the Road against Seattle Sounders FC - FC Dallas
- Sporting Beats LAFC 4-1 to Take First Place - Sporting Kansas City
- Austin FC Defeats Houston Dynamo FC, 3-2 - Austin FC
- Notes & Quotes: Chicago Fire FC 0 - 0 New York City FC - New York City FC
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
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