Joveljić scores twice in debut as Sounders draw 2-2 with Fire

Four days after arriving in a cash-for-player trade, Dejan Joveljić netted two goals in his Sounders debut.

Aug 29, 2026, 5:14 PM

Seattle Sounders Dejan Joveljic celebrates goal Chicago Fire 2026...

Dejan Joveljic celebrates after scoring the second goal of his Seattle Sounders debut against the Chicago Fire on Saturday. (Olivia Vanni/Getty Images)

(Olivia Vanni/Getty Images)

SEATTLE (AP) — Dejan Joveljić scored twice in his Seattle Sounders debut as the Rave Green played to a 2-2 draw with the Chicago Fire on Saturday.

Seattle Sounders 2, Chicago Fire 2: Box score

Maren Haile-Selassie and Robert Lewandowski answered each of Joveljić’s goals for the Fire.

Joveljić, who arrived this week in a $6 million cash-for-player trade with Sporting Kansas City, is the fifth player to score in his debut with the Sounders and the second to score twice.

Fredy Montero (2009), Nelson Valdez (2015), Pedro de la Vega (2024) and Snyder Brunell (2025) each scored in their Sounders debuts, with Montero netting two goals in Seattle’s 3-0 win over the New York Red Bulls in the first match of the Sounders’ debut season.

Seattle grabbed the lead when Joveljić scored in the 12th minute, using assists from rookie Sebastian Gomez and defender Kalani Kossa-Rienzi.

12′ DEKI WITH HIS FIRST SOUNDERS GOAL 🔥🔥🔥

SEA 1 | CHI 0#SEAvCHI pic.twitter.com/pMfvWDEfxT

— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) August 29, 2026

Chicago pulled even in the 38th minute on Haile-Selassie’s fifth goal of the season, one off his career high. Lewandowski and defender Andrew Gutman provided the assists.

Joveljić scored again to give the Sounders a 2-1 lead three minutes into the second half on assists from Albert Rusnák and Brunell. It was Joveljić’s 10th goal of the season.

48′ SOUNDERS GOOOOOAAAAAAAAL

DEKI PUTS US BACK IN THE LEAD.

SEA 2 | CHI 1 #SEAvCHI pic.twitter.com/nfgVyrLVFS

— Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) August 29, 2026

Lewandowski used his head to score an 82nd-minute equalizer for his fifth goal of the season. Haile-Selassie and rookie Puso Dithejane picked up the assists.

Chris Brady stopped one shot for Chicago (11-6-4). Brady topped 10,000 career minutes on Saturday, becoming Chicago’s second homegrown player to reach the mark.

Andrew Thomas totaled nine saves for Seattle (7-9-5), which is 6-0-3 all time at home against the Fire.

Chicago went 3-0-2 in August and improved to 4-3-4 on the road in its climb to third place in the Eastern Conference.