For much of Saturday night, it looked as though Seattle Sounders FC were going to cruise into their upcoming Concacaf Champions League Final series on a high note.
The Rave Green led 3-1 over the San Jose Earthquakes as the hour mark passed, and Leg 1 at Liga MX’s Pumas UNAM on Wednesday evening (10:30 pm ET | FS1, TUDN) was starting to come into view.
But then Seattle collapsed, with Cristian Espinoza’s hat trick steering a 4-3 Quakes win at PayPal Park. They got “a little complacent” as halftime approached, according to head coach Brian Schmetzer, then it all unraveled.
“For me it was not slipping, it was more complacency,” said midfielder Cristian Roldan, whose 20th-minute strike put Seattle two ahead. “Being 2-0 up, people talk about it's the most dangerous lead in soccer. But it was more on our end rather than San Jose stepping up. The game felt too easy at times and I think that's when we let our guard down.”
The Earthquakes benefited from a new-coach bump, dismissing Matias Almeyda on Monday and installing Alex Covelo on an interim basis. Ultimately, that helped them snap a seven-game winless stretch to open the year and earn their first league win of 2022.
San Jose struck quickly in the 64th and 65th minutes through Espinoza and midfielder Jackson Yueill, the first coming off a near-post cross that goalkeeper Stefan Frei couldn’t handle and the latter via a counter-attack from the restart. Then after Video Review, San Jose were awarded a second-half stoppage time spot-kick that Espinoza converted.
Despite their deep run in the CCL’s continental club format, Seattle have now lost two straight MLS matches (last week to Inter Miami CF).
“We just need to be hard to beat, a little bit harder defensively in certain moments of the game, a little bit more steely,” Schmetzer said. “Having Yeimar come back, I think that will help us there. That's the one thing I would say is a little worrisome, but I think this is just a one-off.”
Leg 1 of the CCL Final is down in Mexico City, with Pumas hosting at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario. The return leg arrives May 4 at Lumen Field, a massive opportunity for Seattle to become MLS’s first club to win the tournament’s modern iteration.
To earn a strong result down in Mexico, Roldan said they must be “more in tune” and “focused” than they showed at San Jose.
“Really uncharacteristic of us to let this game slip,” Roldan said. “But again, we have to learn from these moments, keep the positive because going into Wednesday, it's not going to be easy. These moments in a final will put you down bad.”
Schmetzer drove home a similar lesson, stressing you can "never, ever, ever let your guard down." And center back Xavier Arreaga noted the importance of learning quickly.
"We need to learn from this quick so we can react good under these situations," the Ecuadorian international said via a translator. "If there's something we can take advantage of, it's better this is happening now and it's not happening later when it's more difficult to react."
