Heading into the 2021 Major League Soccer season, there were a lot of questions surrounding the Seattle Sounders. How would they replace Jordan Morris? He is out indefinitely with an ACL injury. How would they fare after losing the likes of Gustav Svensson, Kelvin Leerdam and Joevin Jones? All three departed in the offseason. How would they cope without captain and MLS Best XI selection Nicolás Lodeiro for the season opener? He missed out with a left quad strain.
The Sounders emphatically put many of those concerns to rest on Friday in a commanding 4-0 win at Lumen Field over Minnesota United, the same team they came from behind to defeat in last year’s Western Conference Championship.