Sounders hold Galaxy, extend unbeaten run to nine games

CARSON: The Seatle Sounders know they caught a break when Raúl Ruidíaz was surprisingly let off Peru’s roster for the Copa America tournament earlier this month.

They capitalized on Ruidíaz’s presence once again to stay unbeaten when they returned from Major League Soccer’s long break.

Ruidíaz scored the tiebreaking goal early in the second half, and the Sounders extended the longest unbeaten start to a season in team history with a 2-1 victory over the LA Galaxy on Saturday night.

Yeimar Gómez Andrade also scored as the Mls-leading Sounders overcame an early deficit and improved to 6-0-3, matching the eighthlongest unbeaten start in league history. The Galaxy set the MLS record in 1996 with a 12-0 start.

Ruidíaz’s seventh goal of the season came in Seatle’s first game ater the star forward wasn’t chosen for the Copa America. He also pulled even with LA’S Javier Hernández for the overall MLS scoring lead when Chicharito was shut out for his third straight game.

Sacha Kljestan converted a penalty in the first half for the Galaxy, who couldn’t convert numerous chances to even it in the waning minutes. LA dropped to 5-3-0, with two of its losses against the Sounders.

The Galaxy’s loss disappointed most of the 23,165 fans in their first full-capacity crowd since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Kljestan lamented the Sounders’ “two sot goals” while the Galaxy got just two shots on target, but the veteran saw an otherwise solid performance on both ends.

The Sounders improved to 7-1-5 in their last 13 meetings with the Galaxy since 2016. Seatle also beat LA twice in a season for just the second time in the rivalry’s history.

The Galaxy played without captain Jonathan Dos Santos, who has a calf strain. LA then lost defender Daniel Steres to an injury in the opening minutes, but still took the lead when Chicharito drew a penalty from a foul by João Paulo.

Although Kljestan coolly converted the penalty in the 21st minute for his second goal of the season, Seatle still hasn’t allowed a goal in the run of play all season long.