Seattle Sounders Held Scoreless at Home Against Atlanta United

The defending MLS Cup Champions Seattle Sounders played host to expansion side Atlanta United, both sides coming away with a point in a scoreless draw.

Friday night saw the Seattle Sounders take on Atlanta United for the first time at CenturyLink Field. The two sides were very much not at 100% due to injuries and rest from international call-ups and ended up playing to a 0-0 draw. Here are three takeaways Rave Green fans can look at from Friday night’s game:

Defensive Depth is Solid

With Roman Torres rested after going 180 minutes with Panama, Chad Marshall pulling out last minute with an illness, and both Brad Evans and Oniel Fisher recovering from injury, Seattle was without both starting centerbacks and their starting rightback. In their places came Tony Alfaro and Gustav Svensson at centerback and former Sounders 2 player Jordy Delem. Though Svensson has had plenty of minutes under his belt this season so far and Alfaro had six appearances last season, this was Jordy Delem’s first MLS start.

All three players played very well with Joevin Jones against a very strong Atlanta United side. Even though Josef Martinez was out injured and Almirón didn’t come in until the 65th minute, the back four still had to play against the likes of Villalba and Asad and later Almrión.

More from MLS Multiplex

Head coach Brian Schmetzer had a few things to say about Delem’s performance:

"“You saw what he brings. He brings a little tenacity. He jumps well, he won some headers. So overall, pretty good.What I like about Jordy is that he’s been pretty steady. Even his time at S2, if you watch some of his games, there were not a whole lot of ups and downs. You like that steadier guy. That’s number one. Number two, like I said, he’s physically pretty good.If I had to say what he needs to improve on, in our system the right backs have to get forward. A couple times he got caught out there on the right. Did he run out of ideas? Did he cross the ball to the right spot? Those are some of the things we’ll work on with him.But overall, his commitment, effort, all 100 percent. And he wants to be here, which is another big reason I like him.”"

Cristian Roldan is the Future

The best player of the field Thursday night was Cristian Roldan. The 21-year-old became a main stay in the Sounders’ midfield last season and proved Friday night why he is one of the best young talents in the league and why Bruce Arena should be taking a look at him for the USMNT.

Roldan was all over the field Friday night and almost found himself a goal in the 8th minute after a deflected cross hit him in the chest. His best highlight from this game, though, has to be from the 92nd minute block of Jones’ shot just 10 yards from goal. Here is Roldan’s all too important save:

Dempsey Brings His USMNT Form to Seattle

During the USMNT World Cup Qualifying, Clint Dempsey scored four goals in two games, putting him within one goal of Landon Donovan’s record for most goals scored for the men’s national team. Though he didn’t start after going all 180 minutes with the Red, White and Blue, Dempsey did come in as a sub in the 56th minute and with his inclusion Seattle suddenly looked very dangerous going forward.

Dempsey hit a header off the post only a minute after coming onto the pitch. He also became the player that linked the rest of the team going forward, creating chances like Roldan’s cross that just missed Will Bruin’s head. If Dempsey can keep this form moving forward, it will take pressure of Lodeiro to be the only creative force on the pitch, allowing for a much more versatile attack.

Next: Big jump for the US in latest FIFA Rankings

The Seattle Sounders will be traveling to San Jose next Saturday to take on the Earthquakes at 10:30pm EST (7:30pm PST).

Home/MLS News