ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ City SC midfielder Marcel Hartel broke the Seattle jinx.
Yet City SC still came up short in a 4-1 loss to the Sounders on Saturday in an MLS Western Conference contest before 31,236 at Lumen Field.
City SC (2-5-4) is winless in its past seven matches, the second-longest skid in franchise history.
Hartel scored City’s first goal in Seattle after it dropped 2-0 and 3-0 decisions there the past two seasons.
His penalty kick in the 29th minute put ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ in front 1-0. The lead lasted all of four minutes.
Seattle (4-3-4) tied the game 1-1 on a PK of its own from Albert Rusnak.
City SC coach Olof Mellberg felt his team played well up until the match-tying PK.
“After that, they were much better than us,†Mellberg said. “You could see that not much was working. We were not good at all. We struggled in every aspect.â€
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Obed Vargas snapped the tie in the 61st minute with a left-footed drive that deflected off a defender and behind goalkeeper Ben Lundt. Danny Musovski put the match away with a goal 20 minutes later. He has scored in his past four matches.
Nouhou closed out the scoring with a goal in stoppage time for the Sounders, who improved to 3-0-1 in their past four games and moved up to seventh in the MLS Western Conference standings with 16 points.
City SC is 12th in the 15-team Western Conference with 10 points, five behind the last playoff position in ninth.
Hartel used a hesitation move before drilling a right-footed shot past keeper Stefan Frei. It was the second goal of the season for the native of Kiln, Germany.
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ midfielder Tomas Ostrak, who was making his second start in a row, left in the 61st minute with an apparent leg injury.
Eduard Lowen return to the pitch in the 69th minute after being out since March 22 due to personal seasons.
Xande Silva, acquired from Atlanta late last month, made his ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ debut with 14 minutes left.
“He had some really good moments where he showed his speed,†Mellberg said.
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ held a one-goal lead in each of its last two road contests after wasting a late 2-1 advantage at Los Angeles FC on April 27.
City SC is 0-5-2 during the drought, which is the longest since it went nine matches without a victory from May 15 to July 3, 2024.
Ironically, the team’s last win this season was a 1-0 triumph over Seattle at home on March 15.
City SC scored in back-to-back games for the second time this season.
Lundt recorded five saves to give him 12 over the past two matches.
No City SC players were available to the media after the match.
Seattle is 6-0-6 in its last 12 contests at Lumen Field, which is also the home of the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL. It is one of just six turf fields in the MLS.
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ will host Union Omaha in a U.S. Open Cup contest at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Energizer Park. Union Omaha plays in USL League One, the third division of American soccer, and has won three rounds since March 21 in the 110th edition of the Open Cup.
City SC and 15 other MLS teams enter the tournament this week in the round of 32.
