By Jayda Evans
The Seattle Times
A force blew in from Brazil in the form of Nico Lodeiro.
The midfielder was in South America to compete with his Uruguayan national team in the Copa America. When it lost a quarterfinal matchup last week, Lodeiro returned to the Sounders and dominated their road matchup against Columbus on Saturday, scoring both goals in an eventual 2-1 win.
Lodeiro’s effort helped snap an eight-match road losing streak for the Sounders (9-5-5) and get through a tough three-game week with two victories.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve won away,” said Lodeiro via audio provided by MLS of the March 16 road win in Chicago. “For our confidence, this is very important. This is the second part of the (season) and we need points away and at home.”
Considering Lodeiro’s talent as a designated player, Seattle was for once taking advantage of a hampered team instead of being the ones bullied. Columbus had four players out due to injuries and four serving national-team duty.
Seattle still has striker Raul Ruidiaz (Peru), midfielder Cristian Roldan (U.S.) and forward Jordan Morris (U.S.) playing with their national teams. But Lodeiro’s return to the center midfield was what the Sounders needed to anchor another inexperienced lineup.
Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez received the nod at forward, an MLS debut for the 17-year-old, while Danny Leyva, a 16-year-old midfielder, made the second start of his MLS career.
“It’s not easy,” Sounders defender Kelvin Leerdam said via audio provided by MLS. “You need to adjust as quickly as possible because everybody is different. You just go with the flow of the game. … You just try to fight.”
Columbus midfielder Pedro Santos scored the Crew’s goal off a penalty kick in the 14th minute. Leyva was called for a foul to set up the play that on televised replays didn’t appear to show contact, but it wasn’t reviewed via VAR.
It’s the second time in a week Leyva has been involved in a questionable goal. In a home win against Vancouver, his first MLS goal was disallowed after a review because of an injury to the goalkeeper that kept him out of the box.
