Seattle Sounders Vs Toronto FC: Raul Ruidiaz the perfect illustration

The Seattle Sounders beat Toronto FC 3-1 in Sunday afternoon’s MLS Cup. And striker Raul Ruidiaz was the perfect illustration for the difference between the two teams.

On Sunday afternoon, the Seattle Sounders secured their second MLS Cup with a 3-1 victory over Toronto FC. It was the third time these teams have met in MLS Cup in the last four years, Seattle now edging the series 2-1.

But this victory did not come about in the manner you would expect, if you were to consider the relative strengths of the teams, their approaches throughout the playoffs, its location and the scoreline at the end of it all. A 3-1 win suggests the Sounders were dominant. But that could not be further from the truth.

In fact, Toronto FC were the better team. They dominated possession, controlled the central midfield, produced some lovely moments of play, zipping the ball with quick, interchangeable passes, and, for what it is worth, deserved to win. And yet, it was the Seattle Sounders who won MLS Cup.

The perfect illustration for the difference between the two teams is Raul Ruidiaz. The Seattle striker did not really do very much. He had just 15 touches in the first half. He had only ten in the second half. He made just 11 passes throughout the match. For all intents and purposes, Ruidiaz was hardly involved in the match.

And yet, when it came to needing to ice the game in the crucial moment, Ruidiaz did what he always does: he nipped in behind the Toronto defence, calmly controlled the ball to put himself in the perfect position to score, and then simply steered his shot past the stranded Quentin Westberg. It was a clinical, striker’s moment.

In contrast, Alejandro Pozuelo, who was playing in a false-nine position for Toronto FC in Jozy Altidore’s stead, had 98 touches of the ball. Only Auro and Marky Delgado had more, both of which had 99 touches of the ball. And of Pozuelo’s 98 touches, only five came in the penalty area. Ruidiaz also had five touches of the ball, despite having 73 fewer total touches.

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Then Altidore came on midway through the second half. The American centre-forward had seven total touches of the ball. Two of them came in the penalty area, a comparable percentage to Ruidiaz, not Pozuelo. And Altidore produced the only goal for Toronto, contorting a brilliant header into the bottom corner. It came from a cross with Altidore making sure that his presence was known in the penalty area.

While Toronto were the better team throughout MLS Cup and will feel aggrieved that they did not secure the victory, it was Seattle who won in the margins of the match. And Ruidiaz is the perfect illustration of that.

The Peruvian centre-forward was thrust to the peripheries of the game. And yet, he, like substitute Victor Rodriguez before him, produced that critical piece of quality in the final third to put Toronto to bed. And that is what the Reds, for all of their pretty combinations, missed so greatly.

Were the Seattle Sounders fortunate to win MLS Cup? Yes, they were. But they also deserved it, even if the pattern and processes of the game suggest otherwise. And Raul Ruidiaz is the perfect illustration of why.