Heber scored his first goal with his new team to help the Seattle Sounders complete a 4-0 romp of the visiting Colorado Rapids in both teams’ season opener on Sunday night.
Jordan Morris added two goals and Cristian Roldan had another for Seattle in a meeting of elite 2021 MLS performers who failed to reach the 2022 postseason.
Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei was scarcely worked in a dominant team performance, making only two stops to record his first shutout since early September.
Seattle acquired Heber from New York City FC in a late December trade to provide some depth at center forward, after he scored eight goals in 29 appearances (nine starts) last season.
With Raul Ruidiaz nursing a minor injury, the 31-year-old Brazilian got the start in his place and eventually tallied his first Seattle goal in the 53rd minute.
Roldan, Albert Rusnak and Nicolas Lodeiro were all involved in the attacking move. Lodeiro played the final pass for Heber just beyond the top of the 6-yard box, and defender Lalas Abubakar lost his balance trying to clear the pass from danger.
That allowed Heber a simple finish past William Yarbrough for his 25th goal in MLS since his arrival in 2019, making it 3-0 before Morris added his second goal late in the most lopsided match of the league’s opening weekend.
After opening stages in which the Sounders were the aggressors, Roldan gave Seattle the lead in the 25th minute.
Morris got free down the right side and hit a looping cross toward the back post. Yarbrough saved Roldan’s first header from the cross, but Roldan’s second eventually crossed the line despite a deflection from the goalkeeper.
Morris doubled the lead 20 minutes later with his first goal of the day. This time Roldan provided the initial cross from the right, which carried just beyond attackers in the box. Lodeiro reached it on the opposite flank and hammered a volley back into the goal mouth that took a couple deflections before Morris guided another loose-ball header past Yarbrough.
–Field Level Media
