Cédric Bakambu Scores Twice as San Diego FC Rally From 2-0 Down to Draw Seattle Sounders 2-2 on a 90'+6' Penalty

San Diego controlled the first half without hurting Seattle. The hosts held the ball, built a 58.6% possession edge over the night, and reached the break level at 0-0 with nothing to show for it. Seattle's plan — compact, patient, ready to run — needed exactly one opening, and it got two in five minutes.

Joveljic opened the scoring at 50' with the goal of the night, a left-footed shot from outside the box that found the bottom left corner beyond Pablo Sisniega. It was his 13th goal of the season and his fifth for Seattle. He was booked three minutes later, at 53', but by then the game had already turned again. Sebastian Gomez, who had replaced Jesús Ferreira at halftime, arrived in the centre of the box at 55' to finish Hassani Dotson's delivery with his left foot and double the lead. It was the third MLS goal of Gomez's career and his second in as many games — a substitute's goal, five minutes after the first, that put Seattle 2-0 up with 35 minutes to protect.

A saved penalty, and the goal that followed it anyway

San Diego's answer started with a foul. At 57', Alex Roldan brought down Amahl Pellegrino in the penalty area; referee Allen Chapman checked the replay, confirmed the penalty at 58', and booked Roldan at 59'. Seattle survived the kick itself — Andy Thomas dived to his left and saved Anders Dreyer's penalty, low in the corner — but not the seconds after it. The ball stayed alive at the mouth of the goal, and Bakambu got there first, finishing from very close range with his left foot to pull San Diego back to 2-1 at 60'.

It should have been the start of a siege, and the numbers say San Diego owned the ball — but the equalizer took another 35 minutes to arrive, and it came from the same place as the first goal: the penalty spot. Marcus Ingvartsen, on as a 61st-minute substitute, drew the foul from 20-year-old defender Stuart Hawkins at 90'+5'. This time Bakambu took the kick himself and converted it, right-footed into the bottom right corner at 90'+6', sending Thomas the wrong way and Snapdragon Stadium into noise. Eight minutes of stoppage time had been announced, and Bakambu nearly won it outright — at 90'+9' his right-footed shot from the left side of the six-yard box forced one last save from Thomas, low to the corner.

By the Numbers

• 2 — goals for Cédric Bakambu (60', 90'+6' penalty), his 4th and 5th of the season, on 3 shots — all 3 on target.
• 5 — minutes between Seattle's two goals (50', 55'), and the span in which a 0-0 game became 2-0.
• 2 — penalties awarded to San Diego, in the 60th and 90'+6' minutes; San Diego has been awarded a league-leading 12 this season (AP). One was saved; both sequences produced goals.
• 58.6% — San Diego's possession share, against 41.4% for Seattle (ESPN). The hosts also led shots 13-12, shots on target 4-3, and corners 5-3.
• 2 — saves for Andy Thomas, including Dreyer's penalty and Bakambu's 90'+9' hat-trick chance; Pablo Sisniega made 1 for San Diego.
• 21,954 — announced attendance at Snapdragon Stadium (club-reported).
• 9 — matches in San Diego's winless run, extended despite the comeback; the draw was their third straight. Seattle's winless run stands at three.

What it means

A point rescued is not a run ended. San Diego stayed 12th in the Western Conference on 35 points, five points beneath the playoff line at full time, and a nine-match winless run — three straight draws now — leaves them needing wins, not rallies, with Vancouver away on Wednesday. Seattle, seventh on 43 points, will read the same night the other way: a two-goal lead held into the final half-hour on the road, given back through two penalty-area fouls. The Sounders host Houston on Wednesday with their own winless run at three, and with a stoppage-time lesson they have now learned the expensive way.

Full box score and play-by-play: Game Center — Seattle Sounders at San Diego FC. Compare Bakambu, Joveljic and Gomez against the league in the Stats Hub.