A gallant second-half effort by the Seattle Sounders (3-9-3, 12pts) was not enough when it was all said and done as the Rave Green was handed a bitter 3-2 loss by Cascadia Rivals Portland Timbers( 7-3-5, 26pts) Saturday afternoon at Century LinkField.
After a scoreless first half, the Sounders overcame two second-half one-goal deficits only to see the Timbers Larrys Mabiala score his second goal of the game to break a 2-2 deadlock in the 74th minute and secure the Timbers 12th consecutive win in all competitions.
Mabiala scored the games opening goal in the 48th minute when headed home a corner kick by Diego Vera. Victor Rodrigues tied the score three minutes later when he snuck behind the Timber defense and slotted home a Nicolas Lodeiro pass. The Timbers grab the lead in the 57th minute on an exquisite counter-attack that saw Valeri make the perfect pass to space that a streaking Samuel Armenteros caught up to and slot home to give the visitors the 2-1 lead.
Sounders Center Back Chad Marshall tied the game at 2-all in the 68th minute when headed a Lodeiro corner kick past Timbers goalkeeper Jeff Attinella.
With the season quickly slipping away like warm beach sand through the hands on a sunny day, the Sounders are in a full out every game is a must-win mentality. The Sounders have nineteen games left ten of which are on the road. One of remaining nine road games will be a third game against the Timbers who are the antithesis of what the Sounders are.
Portland is a team that is playing free-flowing, self-expressed soccer. On Saturday the Timbers were able to control the game with their intricate passing from the backline to the midfield to the front line. The difference between the two teams is not only the number of completed passes but also the intent and effectiveness of the passes. The Sounders, on the other hand, were able to pass the ball but unable to produce any offensive results and to add insult to injury the players are slow to come back and play defense when the ball is lost to the opponent,
The Sounders had 492 passes to Portland’s 372 and were more accurate, the Sounders passing accuracy was 86.4% compared to the Timber 80.1% besides the final scoreline of 3-2 the Timbers had 12 shots inside the goal box compared to the Sounders seven.
What is becoming an all too familiar theme for the Sounders is the team’s ability to play smart soccer on offense and defense according to Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan.
- With the result, Sounders FC falls to 3-9-3 on the season, currently tied for 10th place in the Western Conference with 12 points.
- The 3-2 victory was the first by the Timbers in a regular-season match at Sounders FC since April 30, 2005 (USL).
- Portland is now unbeaten in 10 straight MLS matches and 12 matches overall. It is just the fourth time in club history (all eras) that the Timbers have tallied 12 consecutive competitive matches without a loss.
- Portland’s 10-match unbeaten streak in league play is the longest streak in MLS this season.
- Portland is unbeaten in its last four regular-season matches against Sounders FC, its longest unbeaten run against Sounders FC in league play since 2004.
- A total of 71 goals have been scored between the clubs in MLS regular-season matches, the most of any fixture in MLS since 2011.
- The loss is Seattle’s first against Portland in 10 regular-season matches at CenturyLink Field. Sounders FC is now 7-1-3 all-time at home against the Timbers in MLS regular-season play.
- Portland takes an early lead in the 2018 Cascadia Cup standings, with Saturday’s fixture being the first match of the season that will count in the standings. Due to an imbalanced schedule, the May 13 result did not count toward the Cascadia Cup.
- Victor Rodríguez scored his first goal of the season and fourth of his MLS career, including postseason play. The strike was his first since 11/30/17, a 3-0 victory over Houston in the Western Conference Championship. He last scored in the regular season in a 4-0 win vs. Dallas on 10/15/17.
- Chad Marshall’s goal was his first of the season and 23rd of his career. He last scored on 8/20/17 in a 2-1 win vs. Minnesota.
- Nicolás Lodeiro’s multi-assist game was his first of the season and fourth of his MLS career. He last earned two assists on 9/27/17 in a 3-0 win vs. Vancouver. Lodeiro recorded his first two assists of the season in back-to-back games on April 15 at Sporting Kansas City and April 22 vs. Minnesota.
- Saturday marked the 101st all-time meeting between Seattle and Portland dating back to 1975. Across five different leagues and competitions, Seattle leads the all-time series with a record of 50-37-14.
- Prior to kickoff of today’s match, new Designated Player Raúl Ruidíaz was presented his new No. 9 jersey and introduced to the fans.
- MATCH SUMMARY
- Seattle Sounders FC 2 – Portland Timbers 3
- Saturday, June 30, 2018
- Venue: Xbox Pitch at CenturyLink Field
- Referee: Ismail Elfath
- Assistants: Eduardo Mariscal, Ian Anderson
- Fourth Official: Sorin Stoica
- VAR: Edvin Jurisevic
- Attendance: 47,521
- Weather: 65 degrees and cloudy
- SCORING SUMMARY
- POR – Larrys Mabiala (Diego Valeri) 48′
- SEA – Victor Rodríguez (Nicolás Lodeiro) 51′
- POR – Samuel Armenteros (Diego Valeri) 57′
- SEA – Chad Marshall (Nicolás Lodeiro) 68′
- POR – Larrys Mabiala (Diego Valeri) 74′
- MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
- SEA – Nouhou (caution) 85′
- POR – Zarek Valentine (caution) 87′
- SEA – Clint Dempsey (caution) 89′
- SEA – Kim Kee-hee (caution) 90′
- LINEUPS & STATS
- Seattle Sounders FC – Bryan Meredith; Jordan McCrary (Harry Shipp 81′), Kim Kee-hee, Chad Marshall, Waylon Francis (Nouhou 81′); Osvaldo Alonso – captain, Cristian Roldan, Nicolás Lodeiro, Victor Rodríguez, Clint Dempsey; Will Bruin
- Substitutes not used: Zac Lubin, Alex Roldan, Jordy Delem, Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Lamar Neagle
- Total shots: 10 (Rodríguez, 3)
- Shots on goal: 5 (Rodríguez, 2)
- Fouls: 13 (Dempsey, 3)
- Offside: 1 (Bruin, 1)
- Corner-kicks: 7 (Lodeiro, 6)
- Saves: 3 (Meredith, 3)
- Portland Timbers – Jeff Attinella; Alvas Powell, Larrys Mabiala, Julio Cascante, Zarek Valentin; Lawrence Olum, Diego Chara, Andres Flores, Diego Valeri – captain, Dairon Asprilla (Bill Tuiloma 84′); Samuel Armenteros
- Substitutes not used: Jake Gleeson, Vytas Andriuskevicius, Sebastian Blanco, Jeremy Ebobisse, Cristhian Paredes, Eryk Williamson
- Total shots: 16 (Three players, 4)
- Shots on goal: 6 (Mabiala, 4)
- Fouls: 16 (Chara, 3)
- Offside: 1 (Asprilla, 1)
- Corner-kicks: 9 (Valeri, 9)
- Saves: 3 (Attinella, 3)
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