Seattle beat Toronto to lift MLS Cup Championship title

Los Angeles: Kelvin Leerdam, Victor Rodriguez and Peruvian striker Raul Ruidiaz were on target as Seattle Sounders defeated Toronto FC 3-1 in MLS Cup Championship match on Sunday.

The record crowd busted into a huge roar with delight at the final whistle as Sounders collected their second trophy in four seasons.

“The atmosphere was amazing,” said Spanish reserve Rodriguez, who was named the MLS Cup Most Valuable Player.

“I will remember this moment as long as I live. I’m really happy.”

The two sides came face-to-face third time in the last four season, but this was their first meeting on the US soil.

The Sounders won the 2016 crown on penalties after a goalless draw but the Canadian club avenged the loss by capturing the 2017 title 2-0.

“We are so competitive,” Rodriguez said. “We have really good mentality always. And at home with our fans it’s a little bit easier for us. I’m proud for all my teammates. We really deserved that.”

Dutchman Leerdam’s blast deflected in off Toronto defender Justin Morrow but officials chose not to call it an own goal in the 57th minute, the score against the run of play giving the Sounders the lead for good. Rodriguez took a centering pass from Uruguayan midfielder Nicolas Lodeiro at the top of the box and smashed a right-footed shot into the far corner in the 76th minute.

Ruidiaz added Seattle’s final goal in the 90th minute, netting his seventh goal in six career playoff matches.

American Jozy Altidore, who came off Toronto’s bench in the second half after missing most of the playoffs with a quadriceps injury, scored in the third minute of stoppage time to avert a shutout for the Reds.

Leerdam, a 29-year-old Suriname-born right back, hit a shot that was going wide before striking Morrow.

It wasn’t the first costly mistake by Morrow in an MLS Cup final. In 2016, he missed Toronto’s last penalty kick off the crossbar just before Seattle’s Roman Torres netted the title-taking kick.

It was the second MLS title for 57-year-old hometown coach Brian Schmetzer, who began his playing career with the original Sounders in 1980.

Agence France-Presse