Sounders draw 1-1 with Galaxy in strong debut for Nicolas Lodeiro

If you were looking for narratives heading into the Sounders’ home match vs. LA Galaxy on Sunday, you were looking in the right place. This match had everything: Brian Schmetzer’s first match as Sounders FC head coach in the MLS era, star DP signing Nicolas Lodeiro’s first match with the Sounders, and the third match of the season against a Galaxy team that’s had the Sounders’ number in 2016.

In what will possibly be looked at as a turning point for this Sounders season, Seattle played some of its best soccer of the season, but a single mental mistake on defense left the Sounders with just a point in a 1-1 draw.

The home crowd accepted their new head coach with open arms as Schmetzer led his team out with an attacking lineup full of intent: Lodeiro, Clint Dempsey, Jordan Morris and Nelson Valdez made up the front four. Both teams came out hard in the first half, and the Sounders were unable to do much with the solid chances they had.

Lodeiro wasted no time doing what he does best: putting excellent through balls into his forwards to open up the kind of chances the Sounders have desperately needed in 2016. Morris found Dempsey for a golden chance around 30 minutes in, but it was saved well by LA goalkeeper Brian Rowe. Not long after that, Morris had a shot blocked that bounced to Dempsey, but his shot was also cleared off the line by Jelle van Damme. Dempsey had a great free kick opportunity close to the box, but it went well wide to close out a 0-0 first half.

The teams came out swinging again in the second half, but it didn’t take long for the Sounders to finally break the deadlock. Following an initial attack started by Lodeiro – and poorly dealt with by Valdez – the Sounders managed to get the ball back, and Valdez passed it back to Cristian Roldan, who fired it past Rowe from just outside the box.

Lodeiro continued to spray passes downfield in the half, springing Morris more than once. Morris had a brilliant opportunity after dribbling past Rowe, but his Lowe shot was blocked by a well-timed sliding block by van Damme.

It was almost all about the Sounders for quite a while, with a couple Galaxy chances sprinkled in. But a deep ball by Steven Gerrard was poorly read by Brad Evans and Stefan Frei, who both assumed the other would deal with it. The Galaxy’s Sebastian Lletget pounced on the untouched ball and fired it past Frei to tie it up at 1-1.

It was almost a dream start for Lodeiro, as his curling shot took a deflection that looked surely to drop into the goal, but Rowe made a magnificent diving save to pluck the ball out of the air. The Sounders came close to getting three points one more time as Morris latched onto a Tyrone Mears cross in front of an open net, but his touch was wrong and the ball flew over the net.

Man of the match: Lodeiro looks every bit the player he’s been hyped to be. He sprayed passes all over the pitch and created the initial chance that led to Roldan’s goal.

Turning point: The Sounders probably deserved to win this, so it was the single mental mistake by Evans and Frei that led a disappointing draw.

One reason to worry: With every single point important if the Sounders hope to squeak into the playoffs, dropping two at home in a match they should have won is not good.

One reason to relax: Lodeiro looks like he could be one of the best playmakers in not only Sounders history, but MLS history. I’m excited to see what he does after he gets used to his teammates and the league.

Spenser Davis also covers the Sounders for Sounder at Heart.