In a six-goal affair, the LA Galaxy came back from behind twice to top the Seattle Sounders 4-2 in the US Open Cup quarterfinal, fueled by a late brace from Galaxy midfielder Sebastian Lletget.
Seattle’s evening opened with an ideal start, as a 4th-minute goal by Michael Farfan after a costly giveaway from Leonardo in his defensive third gave the road team an early 1-0 lead.
It did not take long for LA to draw even thanks to an Alan Gordon tidy finish from inside the 18-yard-box directly following a Baggio Hušidić missed shot towards goal mere minutes later.
The Galaxy had a few other chances in the first half to take a lead, most notably through an Emmanuel Boateng big chance missed in the 3rd minute. Gordon also had a close-range header saved in the 12th minute and Lletget saw a shot from outside the box fizz past the post in the 23rd minute.
Each club mustered two corners in the first half as LA dominated possession 59 percent to 41 percent when the teams headed to the locker rooms at the break.
The second half kicked off with Clément Diop making a big save on a Seattle counter attack in the 55th minute. Longtime MLS and USMNT veteran Hérculez Gómez gave the Sounders the lead for the second time not long thereafter, as the American finished from a close tight angle with his right foot in the 58th minute.
Sounders coach Sigi Schmid was forced to make a change in the 66th minute as two Sounders players collided with one another, injuring Aaron Kovar who was replaced with Cristian Roldan.
Bruce Arena countered, bringing on two offensive weapons in Gyasi Zardes and Giovani Dos Santos in the 74th minute. His tactics were nearly instantly rewarded when Dos Santos bagged the tying goal just minutes later after a Zach Scott error.
Schmid brought on some firepower of his own, introducing Jordan Morris in the 82nd minute, hoping to find a late winner.
However, Schmid’s search for an equalizer proved fruitless as Lletget buried two goals in the final ten minutes to help punch LA’s ticket to the US Open Cup semifinal.
LOS ANGELES GALAXY(4-2-3-1, left to right): Clement Diop; Dave Romney, Daniel Steres, Leonardo, Rafael Garcia; Baggio Husidic, Nigel de Jong (Jeff Larentowicz 92'); Emmanuel Boateng, Mike Magee (Giovani Dos Santos 74'), Sebastian Lletget; Alan Gordon (Gyasi Zardes 74').
SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC(4-3-3, left to right): Tyler Miller; Dylan Remick, Tony Alfaro, Zach Scott, Oniel Fisher; Michael Farfan, Nathan Sturgis (Brad Evans 76'), Zach Mathers; Oalex Anderson (Jordan Morris 82'), Herculez Gomez, Aaron Kovar (Cristian Roldan 66')
