Santos Laguna shows signs of Sounders dominance | OneFootball

In the second game of the Leagues Cup, the Sounders were victorious in a physical match with Santos Laguna, and it was evident that Seattle had the better team that night.

Santos, having now lost their first 2 games of the tournament, have no chance for advancement. They also play in a much more physical league. Those two factors contributed to the 22 fouls that were called against them, not to mention the fouls that were missed or advantage was played.

Brian Schmetzer claimed that the time of possession statistic is thrown off since the the Sounders played the last 26 minutes a man down but still dominated play and kept the ball in the attacking 3rd for much of that time.

Additionally, the Sounders were awarded a penalty kick and Santos was given red card, only to be overruled after a review. Even the review was odd. Musovski was pulled from behind in the box, and as he was falling, grabbed the shirt of the man who had fouled him. Both fouls were minimal. A scramble ensued and Musovski was about to kick the ball in when he was kicked from behind.

The official initially pointed to the spot and gave a red card. When he went to review the play, he could have called the initial foul, the Sounders would have had a penalty kick and a different defender would get a red card. As it turned out, the Musovski foul was the one called, depriving the Sounders of a chance to build on their lead after an own goal scored earlier in the match.

Another sign of dominance was right after the match. Santos players were getting in each other's faces which somewhat indicates their frustration from being thoroughly dominated.

Alex Roldan had another impressive game and Pedro de la Vega continued his good form. The Sounders looked strong on defense and have continued making successful runs behind the defenses in the attacking third.

With 2 wins and 1 game left, the Sounders find themselves on the top of the table thanks to their gaudy +9 goal differential. With only 4 teams advancing, a win against Tijuana would ensure their advancement. A tie would mean that they could be overtaken by Portland or Miami if they won, or 2 of the other 6 teams with 4 points in the standings would have to beat their goal differential. If they won the shoot-out after the tie, they would advance.

A poor choice in the moment earned yet another red card for the Sounders. Georgi Minoungou came in as a sub in the second falf. He was booked for a questionable call that Brian Schmetzer said wasn't a foul after watching replays from several angles. He then received a pass just outside the 18, and cut the ball back in toward the middle and bent the ball past the keeper into the net. I

n his celebration, he lifted his shirt over his head to reveal the message on his undergarments, "Jesus is King." Since there is a rule about removing shirts, he was issued a second yellow which the referee apologetically brandished.

It is a bad rule that was handled in the correct way by the official. What was more questionable, was the Santos players rushing to the official to tattle. This coming after dozens of fouls that should have resulted in cards if the official was "going by the book." It looks petty, but they got their way. Luckily it did not cost the Sounders any points as they continued to press their attack and dominate possession even though they were down a man.

It was also ironical that Nouhou was the one trying to get Minoungou to make better choices and to keep his head after several incidents where he displayed questionable judgement in recent games.

The Sounders are looking confident, and finally looking good as an attacking unit. With their defenders getting back into being match fit, they are hitting their stride at a good time for the League's Cup, and also the second half of the MLS season. If they can stay healthy, and Jordan Morris can recover, this may be the Sounders best year for collecting hardware.