Jordan Morris tallied four times to put him atop Major League Soccer’s goal-scoring race as the visiting Seattle Sounders overcame an early deficit and defeated 10-man Sporting Kansas City 4-1 on Saturday night.
Leo Chu had three assists and goalkeeper Stefan Frei made two saves for the Sounders (3-1-1, 10 points), who snapped a 10-match road winless streak (0-9-1), the longest in franchise history.
William Agada scored and John Pulskamp made three saves for Sporting K.C. (0-3-2, 2 points).
Kansas City, which scored only once in its first four matches of the season, took the lead in the fifth minute.
Daniel Salloi charged down the left wing and deked two defenders to get to the top corner of the 18-yard box, and then he unleashed a low shot toward the near post that forced Frei to make a diving save. Agada pounced on the rebound just inside the top of the 6-yard box and put a left-footed shot over Frei and into the roof of the net.
Seattle tied it in the 23rd minute. Chu took a pass from Nicolas Lodeiro and drove down the left wing. Chu curled a low cross between two defenders and found Morris, who went into a slide to reach the ball and redirected it into the center of the net past a sprawling Pulskamp.
Seattle took the lead in the 54th minute after Joao Paulo intercepted a Kansas City clearing attempt. He passed to Chu near the top left of the 18-yard box, and Chu quickly fed Morris, whose 12-yard shot went off the arm of a charging Pulskamp and into the net.
Kansas City defender Ben Sweat received his second yellow card in the 63rd minute and was ejected, leaving his team short-handed the rest of the way.
Seattle took advantage, as Morris capped his hat trick in the 69th minute on a back-post volley from 5 yards out after taking a cross from Lodeiro on the left wing.
Morris scored again on a header from the top of the 6-yard box in the 77th minute off Chu’s cross from the left wing. It was Morris’ seventh goal of the season, three more than Atlanta’s Thiago Almada.
–Field Level Media
