The Seattle Sounders made a serious statement in their Leagues Cup opener — and the highlight was an unforgettable goal that could earn a Puskás Award nomination.

Seattle hammered Cruz Azul 7-0 on Thursday night at Lumen Field, completely dismantling one of the best teams in Liga MX and the defending Concacaf Champions Cup winner.

All seven Sounders goals came after halftime, but it was the last goal that will go down as the most memorable.

Pedro De La Vega executed an absurdly difficult volley from Alex Roldan’s long driven ball. From an acute angle on the edge of the box, the Argentine opened his body up and hit a controlled side-footed volley that sailed in off the far post.

“The execution, the technical ability, the ball that Alex plays. I mean, it’s way up,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer

said when asked where the goal ranks in Sounders history.

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“… That was an unbelievably technically challenging finish, and he made it look easy.”

Schmetzer was obviously pleased with the overall result as well, the biggest win in Leagues Cup history.

“It was such a tremendous win for the club,” Schmetzer said. “In this club’s history, it ranks right up there with all of the big wins that we’ve had.

“It’s not a championship match, so I would probably temper it with that. But it certainly was a hell of a performance.”