July 2, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Seattle Sounders FC News Release
SEATTLE, WASH. – In the first matchup between the two sides since 2019 MLS Cup, Sounders FC (8-7-2, 26 points) defeated Toronto FC (5-10-3, 18 points) 2-0 on Saturday at BMO Field. Dylan Teves scored his first career MLS goal in his first league start, while Fredy Montero added to his all-time franchise goal lead as Brian Schmetzer’s side kicked off a busy July stretch with three points on the road.
Seattle got on the board first in the 39th minute. Léo Chú streaked down the left flank after he received a one-time pass from Jimmy Medranda. Chú then beat a Toronto defender and crossed a ball right in front of goal, finding Teves for the one-time shot to take the lead. It was Teves’ first MLS goal, becoming the first Homegrown player in Seattle history to score in their first start.
The Rave Green doubled the lead in the 60th minute via a nice piece of team play. Montero received the ball at the edge of the area, passing it off to Lodeiro and running into space, where the Uruguayan found Montero again with a through ball, leaving the Colombian one-on-one with Toronto goalkeeper Quentin Westburg, who Montero beat easily for the 2-0 lead. The goal connected Montero, the club’s all-time goal leader, with Lodeiro, the club’s all-time assist leader.
Sounders FC now returns home ahead of a pivotal matchup next Saturday, July 9 with the first matchup of 2022 against archrival Portland (1:30 p.m. PT / FOX, FOX Deportes, 93.3 KJR FM, El Rey 1360 AM).
MATCH NOTES
Sounders FC currently sits in fourth place in the Western Conference with 26 points after today’s win, moving up from seventh to start the day. The club is now four points above the line in the race for the 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs.
Seattle now has a 10-3-2 record against Toronto FC in regular-season matchups. Seattle is also 1-1-1 against Toronto in the postseason, with all three matches being MLS Cup finals.
Sounders FC deployed a 5-4-1 formation with five changes from Wednesday’s match vs. CF Montréal: Stefan Cleveland, Jimmy Medranda, Danny Leyva, Dylan Teves and Léo Chú replaced Stefan Frei, Kelyn Rowe, Albert Rusnák, Cristian Roldan and Jordan Morris.
Coach Schmetzer exercised some squad rest and rotation for today’s match, as Frei, Morris, Roldan and Rusnák did not travel with the team to Toronto.
Cleveland made his fifth appearance of the year across all competitions (fourth in MLS play) and his first since a May 11 Lamar…
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