Skip to content

Morris scores winner as Seattle Sounders beat Real Salt Lake

Twitter/@si_soccer

Seattle - Nicolas Lodeiro figures he's just getting started.

The Seattle Sounders hope he's right.

Lodeiro scored his first MLS goal, then assisted on Jordan Morris' team-leading eighth strike in Seattle's 2-1 victory over Real Salt Lake on Sunday.

''I'm very happy. I hope it's the first of many,'' Lodeiro said through an interpreter. ''But the most important thing is the win today.''

Related - Watch: Lodeiro scores 1st MLS goal with brilliant finish

The Sounders have won two straight matches and are 2-0-1 since parting ways with former coach Sigi Schmid on July 26. Lodeiro has factored into four of the team's last five goals, with two assists last week in a 3-1 victory at Orlando City.

''He has come and turned things around, but the whole team has had a hand in that, not just one person,'' Seattle interim head coach Brian Schmetzer said. ''He's a very talented soccer player, and he makes everyone else around him better. But the whole team kind of rises up with him - that might be his biggest contribution, aside from a goal and an assist tonight.''

Lodeiro, the Uruguay midfielder signed by Seattle as a Designated Player on July 27, tallied in the 24th minute, Clint Dempsey lofting the ball toward the left wing side for Andreas Ivanschitz, who took it into penalty area and crossed it toward the middle for Lodeiro to drill high into the left side of the net.

In the 37th minute, Dempsey maneuvered around a defender and sent a ball toward the left side, where Lodeiro controlled and floated a cross into the box. Morris ran onto a header that went in off the hands of goalkeeper Nick Rimando.

''It's awesome playing with two players like that,'' Morris said about Dempsey and Lodeiro. ''You make a run, and you know you're going to get the ball.''

RSL's Joao Plata scored on an uncontested 8-yard shot in the 62nd minute after goalkeeper Stefan Frei bobbled the ball at the top of the box while preparing to kick it downfield.

Dempsey, coming off of a hat-trick last week at Orlando City, had a chance to clinch the game with a penalty kick in the 82nd minute. But his shot banged off the underside of the crossbar and bounced away from the goalmouth.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox