Paul Arriola's First Sounders MLS Goal Earns 1-1 Draw at LA Galaxy After Marco Reus Penalty

Paul Arriola needed about two minutes. Sent on in the 79th minute after Dejan Joveljić went off injured in a reunion with his old club, Arriola drifted to the back post in the 81st and tapped home Jordan Morris' cross for his first MLS goal in a Seattle Sounders shirt.

That goal earned Seattle a 1-1 draw with the LA Galaxy on Saturday night at Dignity Health Sports Park, canceling out Marco Reus' first-half penalty. Nobody won, which for the Sounders is becoming a running bit. It was their fourth straight draw.

Two Goalkeepers and a Penalty

The first half was a showcase for the men in gloves. JT Marcinkowski dove to push away an Albert Rusnák drive in the 24th minute, then stopped a Morris header and another Rusnák shot inside the next 60 seconds. At the other end, Andrew Thomas made back-to-back saves in the 29th, first on a Justin Haak header and then on Kyogo Furuhashi, and parried away a Reus effort from close range in the 38th.

The breakthrough came from the spot. Paul Rothrock was whistled for a foul on Hirving Lozano in the box in the 42nd minute, and Reus sent Thomas the wrong way with a right-footed penalty into the bottom right corner two minutes later. Per the Galaxy, it was his team-high sixth league goal of the season and his second straight home match with a goal.

Seattle sent on Sebastian Gomez for Rothrock at halftime.

Seattle Push, Morris Denied

The Sounders came out of the break on top, and Galaxy head coach Greg Vanney knew it. "I thought when we came out in the second half, our wingers were defending a little lower than we wanted them to, which was then inviting more on top of us, and we ended up deeper than I would have liked us to be in the second half," he said.

Marcinkowski had to stop Morris in the 48th minute, Joveljić in the 53rd and another Morris header in the 54th. LA had a golden chance to double the lead in between, but Reus pulled a left-footed shot wide on a 50th-minute break. Then, in the 61st, Morris was played through and beat Marcinkowski, only for the flag to go up for offside.

Vanney rolled the dice in the 67th minute with a triple change, sending on Pablo Ruiz, Harbor Miller and João Klauss. According to the Galaxy, it was Klauss' first game action since a foot injury suffered on April 18. Ruiz immediately forced Thomas into a save, but the game was drifting toward Seattle.

Arriola's Two-Minute Cameo

Joveljić went down in the 75th minute, and Seattle made three changes in the 79th, sending on Hassani Dotson, Kim Kee-Hee and Arriola. LA took off Reus for Lucas Sanabria at the same time.

The equalizer was a three-man move. According to the Sounders, Peter Kingston made a darting run through the LA defense and dinked a ball through to Morris, who sent it across the face of goal for a wide-open Arriola to finish from point-blank range. Vanney was not happy with how his back line handled it: "It's a goal I also don't think we should give up."

Both sides had chances to win it. Marcinkowski punched away a powerful Kingston shot in the 90th minute, Dotson missed narrowly moments later, and Sergi Roberto left injured just before stoppage time. Seven minutes of added time produced a blocked Harbor Miller shot, a Calegari effort over the bar, a blocked Arriola try and two late Seattle bookings, but no winner.

Stars of the Night

JT Marcinkowski made seven saves and was the main reason the Galaxy led for most of the night.

Jordan Morris put three of his four shots on target, had a goal chalked off for offside and set up the equalizer. On a different night, he walks off with a brace.

Marco Reus scored the penalty and put two of his four shots on target, though he will want the 50th-minute miss back.

Paul Arriola took two shots in his short shift and scored with one of them. Per the Sounders, he had several Concacaf Champions Cup goals for the club over the past two years, but this was his first in league play.

Dejan Joveljić got a homecoming worth noting. The Sounders say he scored 34 goals in three and a half years with the Galaxy, including helping them lift the 2024 MLS Cup, before Seattle acquired him from Sporting Kansas City this summer. His night ended with an injury.

The Turning Point

Seattle's 79th-minute changes. The Sounders had been knocking for half an hour without finding a way through Marcinkowski. Fresh legs found the gap almost instantly, with Arriola on the end of it.

Stats That Matter

• Shots on target: Seattle 8, LA 5. The Galaxy took 18 shots to Seattle's 17 but tested Thomas less often.
• Saves: Marcinkowski 7, Thomas 4.
• Possession: Seattle held 51.6 percent and completed 390 passes to LA's 339.
• Fouls: Seattle committed 15 to LA's 9 and took both of the game's yellow cards.

What It Means

LA moved to 7-9-10 with 30 points, and their players know the math is tight. "We know exactly how the situation is, and everybody is on board to keep fighting and not give up," defender Justin Haak said. Haak also felt LA "dominated most of the game." The shots-on-target column would like a word. The Galaxy, who won 2-0 in Seattle in May, visit Minnesota United on Sept. 19.

Seattle are 7-7-9 with 28 points. The Sounders say that leaves them 13th in the Western Conference, two points out of the final playoff spot with a game in hand. The four-match draw streak followed eight straight league losses, so the Sounders are now winless in 12 MLS matches. They visit the Colorado Rapids next Saturday.

The Closing Take

Seattle's season has turned into Groundhog Day: wake up, draw, repeat. Arriola's tap-in at least gave the loop a new ending scene. Breaking out of it entirely is the next job.

Stats from ESPN's match data. Postgame quotes and club notes as reported by LAGalaxy.com and SoundersFC.com.