Sounders against Botafogo, a moral win, but no result to show for it | OneFootball

The Sounders had 2 poor performances entering the Club World Cup. Nouhou specifically got hot headed and red carded. That spilled over into the Club World cup as Nouhou reacted poorly to being elbowed in the chest. It was surprising that the play wasn't reviewed, it used to be the case that if you retaliate, that got caught.

But with video review, it is questionable why the Botafogo player did not get penalized. With that said, an amazing ball was put in the box and a quality header left no chance for a save for Frei. It was unfortunate, and hopefully Nouhou avoids getting a card against Atletico or he will be suspended for the game against PSG.

The Sounders did rally, and had numerous opportunities to score, but did not have the finishing quality to get a result for the match. Unfortunately for the Sounders, they needed a win and an unlikely tie in order to advance out of the group stage. Now the easiest path for them is to beat Atletico and tie PSG. If Botafogo beats Atletico, the Sounders will need to beat both Atletico and PSG. PSG is the favorite to win the tournament, and based on their demonstrative performance against Atletico, it is reasonable to assume they will leave the group stage with 3 wins.

Each of the subs made a positive impact for the Sounders, and both Obed Vargas and Christian Roldan were stand-outs for Seattle. To their credit, Botafogo played the game they wanted to play. They kept numbers back in a defensive shell and used counter-attacks to get the better of the Sounders exploiting lapses by the Sounders' defensive line.

Both Musovski and Ferreira failed to make a positive impact on the offense but the entire team lacked the quality to finish. Even their loan goal required a bit of luck as it deflected off a defender and into the net past the keeper that was unable to change directions after the deflection.

There are a handful of things the Sounders can take away from this game.