Written by Brandon Clearwaters
Seattle, WA- On Saturday the Seattle Sounders loss a tough 1-0 battle with western conference foe Real Salt Lake inside CenturyLink Field. Neither side managed to score through a very physical first half, where both teams combined for five yellow cards. Injuries were a big factor in the match when the rave green suffered a huge loss just shortly after the half-hour mark when midfielder Handawalla Bwana was forced to exit the match after suffering a foot injury.
The lone goal in the match came from Saucendo with a cannon of a shot from the outside that went off the fingertips of Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei. Seattle had a lot of great looks and shots on target but couldn’t capitalize as Real Salt Lake would take the win.
The Sounders have been struggling to score in the last few games and have had a huge string of injuries this season. The Sounders have simply struggled to find answers for how to support Clint Dempsey and find any offensive fluidity, a problem that was on display again on Saturday.
Next up, the Sounders will hit the road for the seldom-seen back-to-back matches against the same opponent as they’ll head to Rio Tinto Stadium to take on this same RSL side on Saturday, June 2. The Sounders will start its 2018 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup campaign with an away fixture at USL side Sacramento Republic FC on Wednesday, June 6, before returning to MLS play with a match at CenturyLink against D.C. United on Saturday, June 9.
Image courtesy Sounders FC Communications. Credit photographer Mike Fiechtner.
