Sounders' Cristian Roldan nets brace in win over St. Louis City
It's an easy problem to fix.
After ceding a goal due to leaving a player unmarked at the back post during a corner kick, all St. Louis City had to do the second time was make certain every Sounders player was covered.
Well, that didn't happen.
Cristian Roldan was wide open - twice - to net a brace in a 4-1 win at Lumen Field. After the second goal, Roldan grabbed the ball, tucked it under his jersey and sucked his thumb to announce he's expecting his second child.
The U.S. international last scored a brace in a match on the road in 2020 against the LA Galaxy. The goals Saturday bring his total to three this MLS season.
Sounders midfielder Albert Rusnák provided the assist on both of Roldan's goals.
The first in the 22nd minute, Roldan met the ball inside the box and bounced a header past City forward Cedric Teuchert and keeper Roman Bürki.
Roldan used a low right-footed shot to score the second goal in the 37th minute. The 30,596 in attendance were stunned St. Louis left their back post open, again.
We've talked a lot about set pieces being important," Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said. "I've been kind of hard on (assistant) Rico (Clark) and (performance analyst) Jake Sheard, telling them we need to be a little bit more dangerous on the goals. They looked at St. Louis and how they set up and they put together some really good set pieces. Albert, to his credit, delivered the ball to the exact spot where the coaches told Cristian to be."
Schmetzer subbed on Paul Rothrock for Paul Arriola at halftime. Rothrock won the Sounders a penalty in the 48th minute after being fouled in the box by City midfielder Conrad Wallem.
Rusnák normally shoots the penalty kicks for the Sounders, but asked Roldan if he wanted the shot to possibly get a hat trick.
"I'd rather win than get a hat trick," Roldan responded.
Rusnák nailed the shot from the spot to give the Sounders a 3-0 lead. But minutes later he went down with an apparent leg injury and was replaced by Jesús Ferreira.
"He was just tired," Schmetzer said.
Rusnák played the full 90 and scored a brace in the Sounders' win against Liga MX side Tigres UANL on Wednesday at Lumen. Tigres won the overall series to advance the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals.
"You can talk about it in any way, shape or form, but he's playing, right now, at a very high level," Schmetzer said.
Sounders forward Osaze De Rosario closed his team's scoring in the 86th minute. He received a slick pass from Ferreira and worked around City defenders in the box to swing a right-footed shot by Bürki.
It's De Rosario's first goal of the season and Ferreira's fifth assist in MLS competitions.
St. Louis (1-4-3) had its chances in the match. Sounders keeper Andrew Thomas was working to collect his sixth shutout of the season, but with six minutes of stoppage time added to the second half, City winger Eduard Löwen found an angle to bury a shot into the back of the net.
Antino Lopez and Alex Roldan formed a new Sounders center back pairing Saturday. Schmetzer rested mainstay defender Jackson Ragen and multiple other first-choice players due to the short turnaround after Wednesday's CCC quarterfinal.
Another new look was Arriola and Snyder Brunell on the wings. The Sounders midfield featured a seasoned core of Rusnák, Roldan and Hassani Dotson. As subs were made, Cristian Roldan was moved to the backline.
Highlight and utilizing Roldan in multiple ways this season is intentional for the club. He's a strong candidate to make the FIFA men's World Cup roster for the U.S. men's national team. The Stars and Stripes play a group-stage match at Lumen on June 19.
Nights like Saturday, where Roldan also was accurate on 92% of his passes, should look good to first-year USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino. He'll announce his roster in May.
"Pochettino has a challenging task," Schmetzer said. "There's a lot of people that are sometimes down on Cristian because there's a loose pass here or something doesn't go right. That's the easiest thing in soccer to see. What you have to look for when you're talking about the complete player is all of the intangibles. The little things. The effort, the athleticism and all the stuff that Cristian possesses that we take for granted sometimes.
The Sounders (5-1-1) will remain at home and host FC Dallas next week. Schmetzer said he gave the players a three-day break as a reward for their strong start this season.
The team is undefeated at home, through all competitions and is still in position to make a run at winning the Supporters' Shield. The Sounders are fifth in the table, five points back from Cascadia rival Vancouver (7-1-0).
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This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 11:37 PM.