Sounders advance to Leagues Cup semifinal following 0-0 (4-3) shootout win over Club Puebla

The Seattle Sounders were stifled on Wednesday night for the second-straight game against an opponent determined to choke off their potent attack with a defensive shell. This time, though, there was no cross-turned-shot that found its way into the top corner. This time, the Sounders found themselves in a penalty shootout at home. This time, they won.

Against Club Puebla, two shootout saves from cup goalkeeper Andrew Thomas boosted Seattle to a semifinal berth, where it will play for Concacaf Champions Cup qualification. Shuffling wingers opened the door, but a second half red card to striker Danny Musovski closed it and left the final 20 minutes destined for postgame play. Seattle prevailed, 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 full time score, and advanced to the penultimate round.

A tactically informative first half, if not fruit-bearing in terms of legitimate chances, left the Sounders with 83 percent of the ball — even more than the 70 percent they had against a back five in Minnesota at the weekend.

“They must’ve watched the Minnesota film,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said.

After that MLS matchup saw the Sounders struggle to finish chances against a defensively-minded system that worked, Seattle’s first 20 minutes of play were focused almost entirely on prying apart the left-hand side of Puebla’s defense.

“When a team defends deep like that, it’s hard to break them down,” Obed Vargas said. “You have to have that quality, and I think we’re just lacking that bit of quality and last touch.”

Facing a back five for the second time in less than a week, the Sounders opted to overload Puebla’s left side early by forcing right back Alex Roldan into the channel between Puebla left wing-back Fernando Monarrez and his nearest centerback. 

Roldan usually shifts into midfield, allowing for forward runs from midfielders as the Sounders’ 4-2-3-1 rotates into a back three in attack, but doesn’t make that move as often against a back five. On Wednesday, the move left right midfielder Paul Rothrock one-on-one with Monarrez on multiple occasions. 

“Paul Rothrock is a great player when he’s running in behind and creating havoc,” Roldan said. “With me coming into the middle, we’re trying to pair that, get the ball in behind, and get service to Danny (Musovski).”

Rothrock forced Monarrez into a stumble within the first five minutes, before Roldan’s step into the half-space generated a Rothrock low cross across the box that was gobbled up by goalkeeper Julio González after nine minutes. Finally, after 14, the ball was worked from left to right across the penalty box. Roldan’s presence in the channel left Rothrock isolated again, and he nutmegged Monarrez and missed a left-footed curler wide of González’s right post.

Later in the half, it was Roldan who drifted outside, stacked with Rothrock…until the latter made a slashing run across the box that left the space behind Monarrez wide open. Roldan sprinted into it, and a better ball would’ve found him just wide of the six-yard box.

Puebla, though, failed to do what Minnesota excelled at — attacking the space that Roldan left behind — and so found itself limited to distant chances through half an hour. Forced to the other side of the pitch in attack, Nouhou returned to imperious form as Seattle’s lockdown left back with audacious over-the-shoulder touches facing his own goal and his typical physicality.

The half-space, though, seemed only able to generate half-chances as Seattle was left without a shot on target through the first 45 minutes. The concern about Seattle’s right wing had left ample space for Nouhou and left winger Pedro de la Vega to combine, but they couldn’t generate a shot inside the box, either.

Roldan finished with a first-half-high (excluding Seattle’s centerbacks) 61 touches, two successful dribbles and three passes into the final third — but no real chance. In a quarterfinal matchup where a level score after 90 minutes meant penalties, that suited Puebla far more than the Sounders.

“In the first half, we wanted to play with more tempo,” Schmetzer said. “The ball was moving too slow. We tried to address that at halftime.”

That first tangible chance continued to wait, though, as the emphasis continued to shift towards De la Vega and Seattle’s left wing. In a move that seemingly confirmed its intent to fight for a shootout, central midfielder Nicolás Diaz filled the channel that Rothrock and Roldan had attacked in the first half.

Just like in Saturday’s matchup with the Loons, Schmetzer chose the move that sparked his offense. This time, instead of waiting 78 minutes to insert winger Georgi Minoungou, he needed just 63. The move wasn’t for Rothrock, who had arguably cooled off after jumpstarting the first-half offense — it was for De la Vega.

Minoungou’s first step is still one of the fastest in North America, and he won two corners with it less than five minutes after coming on. On Wednesday, though, he didn’t pop on the stat sheet — no successful dribbles or crosses.

On 71 minutes, in Seattle’s clearest chance yet, Rothrock swung in a ball that flashed past Musovski and fell awkwardly at the feet of Jesús Ferreira, who managed to turn with it and direct it wide left.

Musovski, though, wouldn’t be on the pitch for much longer. Six minutes later, after skinning a defender but leaving an arm trailing, Seattle’s striker took exception to the yellow card displayed by the referee. The referee took a second card from his pocket, and Musovski was gone for dissent.

Schmetzer said later that he had a private conversation with Seattle’s leading scorer, while Alex Roldan said that, “He’s learning from it.”

Even the man advantage didn’t encourage Puebla to break out of its shell, though, and in the end the away side got what it wanted when it walked into the building: penalties. Seattle was already confident.

“We knew that (Andrew) was going to save at least two penalties,” Vargas said. We knew that if we just scored and did our job, we were going to win.”

Thomas saved Puebla’s first effort low and away after Cristian Roldan hit the post with his penalty. Seattle wouldn’t miss again, and just before Thomas saved Diaz’s shot — the fifth — he turned to face the crowd, and grinned.

“I was feeling fairly confident going into that one,” Thomas said. “I tried to smile at the guy a little bit. He’s feeling the pressure more than I am.”

The Sounders will travel to face LA Galaxy in the semifinal round on August 27.