Second-half goals from Raul Ruidiaz and Fredy Montero propel Seattle Sounders to 2-1-win Portland Timbers.

BIG TAKE AWAY

The big question of the day is where was Captain Nicolas Lodeiro? After playing most of the second half against last week against the LA Galaxy one would have expected him to start or at least see some playing time against the Timbers. Everything points to Lodeiro suffering a setback in his attempt to return to the lineup after suffering a training injury the first week in April.

The other big takeaway is that the Sounders are still learning the new system. Portland threw multiple defensive looks at the Sounders and the Rave Green struggled. The Timbers like to sit back and press once the opponent puts the ball in play. On Sunday the Timbers pressed high at times with two forwards up front, then also pressed with three up front. Early in the game, the  Sounders were able to get the ball out to the wings by switching the ball from side to side. Halfway through the first half the Sounders looked confused when trying to play the ball out of their end. A halftime tongue lashing by Brian Schmetzer snapped the Sounders out of their doldrums and the result was two second-half goals that lead to another win.