Already missing six key players to injury, a Cristian Roldan red card made the task before the Seattle Sounders that much more difficult when hosting LAFC on Sunday.
The Sounders held on for a 1-1 draw, but the rash decision – Roldan was dismissed for putting his hands to the face of Eduard Atuesta – ensured Seattle would always be chasing the game. They were ultimately reduced to nine men in second-half stoppage time, as Kelvin Leerdam was shown a red card upon Video Review for taking out Diego Rossi’s path to goal.
But the Roldan decision was part of the plot unraveling for Seattle, all after the day started bright with Jordan Morris scoring 46 seconds in for a 1-0 lead. That was quickly negated when Carlos Vela scored his league-leading 11th goal of the year to draw LAFC level at 1-1 in the 4th minute.
With a lengthy injury list, Seattle entered Sunday with five field players listed as substitutes instead of the normal six. Most notably, strikers Will Bruin and Raul Ruidiaz are still recovering from injuries, while the midfield is also decimated with Victor Rodriguez and Gustav Svensson out. Then on defense, center back Chad Marshall remains sidelined. Left back Nouhou Tolo joined him, too.
As those players return to full fitness, Seattle now has the red-card suspensions to Roldan and Leerdam to deal with.
This all came with Seattle hoping to avenge a 4-1 defeat at LAFC on Easter Sunday. It was the second meeting of the clubs in a week.
