If you needed a reminder of the type of quality Raúl RuidÃaz brings to the table, Seattle Sounders FC's Peruvian striker offered up a glimpse in Saturday's entertaining 3-3 draw at Charlotte FC.
Making his first start since returning from a hamstring injury that kept him sidelined for the majority of the first half of the season, RuidÃaz struck with two trademark finishes, one of which was a 36th-minute banger that became an instant AT&T 5G Goal of the Matchday contender. With midfielder Cristian Roldan also scoring in his first start since returning from a lengthy absence while in concussion protocol, Seattle's recently-slumping attack managed their first multi-goal game in their last 11 MLS matches.
"Overall, I think the performance was good in the sense that we scored three goals away from home," Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said after the game. "So, the attacking side was working. I thought all three of our goals were very well-taken goals. I loved Cristian's first goal: Welcome back, Cristian.
"Raúl's next two goals, well-taken. The second one [of the match], golazo: Welcome back, Raúl."
"The draw stings"
Unfortunately for the Sounders, the offensive fireworks didn't result in three points due to frailties on the other side of the ball. Seattle – a team that had posted nine clean sheets coming into the match – held the lead three separate times at Bank of America Stadium, only to relinquish it on each occasion.
The last concession, an 89th-minute header from Charlotte's Patrick Agyemang, soured the final result and deprived the visitors of what could have been a galvanizing three points on the road.
"We have nine shutouts," Schmetzer said. "And for some odd reason we couldn't keep Charlotte off the board. Give a little bit of credit for Charlotte because they didn't quit and they put pressure on us, they sent the big guys up towards the end of the game. But certainly we felt that we should have come out of there with all three points."
Roldan also said the multiple blown leads dampened what should have been a festive mood in the postgame locker room. But the US international midfielder added the three-goal outburst can be something to build on as the Sounders continue to work closer to full strength.
"It's hard to celebrate the goals that Raúl and I scored," Roldan admitted. "We were out for a really long time so it was really rewarding to score on our first starts back with the team. Obviously we would have loved to have three points, but the goals that we scored were of quality. Maybe that was something that we were lacking a little bit these last couple games, so we have to take that into account, we have to use that for momentum going into our next game."
It's momentum Seattle will hope to carry into their next match, which will be a highly-anticipated road clash at BMO Stadium against LAFC on June 21 (10:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass), who will be looking to correct course after a 4-0 drubbing at Houston Dynamo FC on Saturday.
"Look, the draw stings because we were ahead," said Schmetzer. "We let them come back on multiple occasions. But the one silver lining in a very dark cloud is the offense was clicking. Raúl is back."
