Sounders thrash Cruz Azul

Cruz Azul 0-7 Seattle Sounders FC

SEATTLE, WA–It was “Seventh Heaven” for the Sounders against the reigning Concacaf Champions on Thursday night in the Leagues Cup. Six different Sounders scored as Seattle thrashed Cruz Azul, 7-0, at Lumen Field in the most lopsided win in the short history of the competition, the most lopsided win for an MLS team over a Liga MX team, the most lopsided win for the Sounders’ in their MLS history, and the first time they’ve score seven in a match since 2020 (San Jose).

Only two other games in the 51-year history of the Sounders saw more lopsided results in their favor:  A 9-0 win in 1979 over Edmonton Drillers at Kingdome in the classic North American Soccer League and a 10-0 win over SV Transvaal of Suriname in 1996 during the A-League era in a Concacaf Champions Cup match. Ironically, that same competition saw Cruz Azul thrash the Sounders, 11-0, in Guatemala.

Back to Thursday’s action, it was hard to believe this was a 0-0 game after 45 minutes with both teams getting chances. The Sounders had a goal disallowed for offside and Cruz Azul shooting one off the post.

The second half turned out to be a far different story. It all started just three minutes into the second half when Yeimar headed in an Albert Rusnak corner. Two minutes later, it was 2-0 when Obed Vargas’s shot deflected off a defender and past Kevin Mier into the net.

In the 58th minute, another Rusnak corner was flicked on by Cristian Roldan and to the feet of Jesus Ferreira for the third goal. Eleven minutes later, Ozase De Rosario made it four off an assist from Ryan Kent. Pedro de la Vega’s first touch of the ball in the 76th minute was also a goal to make it 5-0. Nouhou got into the scoring act heading into an empty net off a rebound in the 88th minute. De la Vega became the only player to score twice to complete the scoring a minute into stoppage time with a highlight reel goal.

“They set another standard,” Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said of his team. “Is it a similar standard than when we played in the Club World Cup? Certainly the effort, the application but we were playing against some of the best teams in the world. But we played against a CCC champion, the best team in CONCACAF and we scored seven. Let that sink in.”

The Sounders now lead the MLS side of the 36-team Leagues Cup after the first set of matches. Next up on Sunday, the Sounders host Santos Laguna. Kickoff is at 7:30pm PT on Apple TV. Cruz Azul will look to recover against LA Galaxy on Sunday (7:30pm, Apple TV).

Photos by Paul Kahl

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