Magnus Wolff Eikrem scored his first MLS goal in the 83rd minute as the Seattle Sounders snapped a three-match losing streak with a 2-1 victory against D.C. United on Saturday night at CenturyLink Field.
Cristian Roldan’s cross found Eikrem alone at the 12-yard spot, and he put a header into the bottom right corner of the net past diving D.C. goalkeeper David Ousted. Longtime Sounders captain Osvaldo Alonso, who came on as a substitute in the 65th minute, was also credited with an assist on the winner.
The Sounders also snapped a three-match goalless drought and moved out of a last-place tie with Colorado in the Western Conference.
Nicolas Lodeiro returned to the lineup and ended the Sounders’ scoreless streak in the 57th minute, tying the game at 1-1.
The playmaking midfielder had started just five matches for the Sounders this season, first sidelined by a broken toe and then with a stint at Uruguay’s World Cup camp. Lodeiro returned to Seattle earlier this week after missing out on Uruguay’s 23-man roster.
The Sounders tied it as Kelvin Leerdam’s throw-in was headed to the top of the 18-yard box by a D.C. defender and right to Lodeiro, whose left-footed shot found the bottom right corner of the net past a diving Ousted.
Longtime Sounders nemesis Darren Mattocks, who played with Cascadia Cup rivals Vancouver and Portland before joining D.C. this season, opened the scoring in the 53rd minute with his team-leading sixth goal. Mattocks drove home a rebound from close range after Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei made a sprawling save on a header by Paul Arriola off Zoltan Stieber’s cross.
Mattocks had two good chances to score in the first half. In the 27th minute, his shot from the top right of the six-yard box was hit directly at Frei. And in the 35th, he rose over two Seattle defenders off a cross from former Sounders defender Oniel Fisher, but the header just missed the top left corner of the net.
Clint Dempsey had the best chance for Seattle in the first half, but his back-heel from six yards out after a scramble in front was smothered by Ousted.
D.C., which is in the Eastern Conference cellar, had its modest two-match unbeaten streak snapped.