Seattle held most of the ball but lost to one Houston goal

Houston won 1-0 at Lumen Field from a side that barely had the ball, while Seattle's more plentiful chances went unconverted.

Seattle had most of the ball and still lost it. The Sounders kept 70% possession, meaning time on the ball, which is well above the 51.3% they average at home, and they took 19 shots, more than their usual 14.7. Houston Dynamo won 1-0 at Lumen Field with the only goal of the match, scored by the side that spent most of the game without the ball.

The goal arrived in the 26th minute. Lucas Halter scored after a pass from Mateusz Bogusz, and it came from one of Houston's few efforts. Those efforts carried an expected goals total, or xG, of 0.32. xG is a rough measure of how good a chance was, where a value near 1 means a chance that would usually go in, so Houston had very little to work with and one of those efforts was enough.

Seattle's chances were more plentiful but far less likely to go in. Nine of their shots came from inside the box, most of the rest from distance, and only five were on target. Their total xG was 0.88, below their home average of 1.23, and a side that usually scores 1.7 goals at home finished with none. The league as a whole averages 3.4 goals a match, so a single goal sits well under the norm.

Houston's goalkeeper, J. Bond, made five saves, which tells you how often Seattle reached the target. Houston faced less danger than they usually allow, since their away average is 1.44 xG conceded and the chances they faced this time fell well short of it. Their own shot count of 2 compares with an average of 11.4, so the visitors created very little of their own.

Seattle won ten corners to Houston's one, yet each side collected a single yellow card, Peter Kingston for the Sounders and Agustin Resch for Houston, so discipline did not separate them. The result turned on the one chance that went in, not on a long spell of pressure that failed to score.

Roldan won seven individual battles, the highest count among the players listed for either side, but Seattle could not turn that effort into a shot that beat Bond. Halter's finish and Bogusz's pass were the moments that counted in the scorebook.

Houston sit fifth in the table with 48 points, and five of their last six matches ended level. Seattle are seventh on 43, with three wins from their last six.

Player of the matchJ. Bond5 saves7.8

Lucas Halter1 goal7.5

A. Rusnák6 chances created7.2

C. Roldan1 shot on target7.2