Match Recap & Reaction: Portland Timbers vs. Seattle Sounders

The recap which you are about to read is an account of the tragedy which befell a school of fish. For them, an idyllic summer evening became a nightmare.

The Portland Timbers gutted the fish and felled their biggest rivals the Seattle Sounders by a score of 1-0 on a hot night at Providence Park. Juan Mosquera tallied the game’s only goal in spectacular fashion in what as a gritty and tense affair that the Timbers deservedly won.

Match Recap

Phil Neville was faced with some tough lineup decisions before the match. With both Felipe Mora and Jonathan Rodriguez suspended, he turned to Mason Toye up top and Antony on the wing in the hope that the vaunted Timbers offense would keep chugging along.

Before the match, the Timbers Army unfurled their latest edition in horror-themed tifos for this rivalry fixture, this time featuring Leatherface from the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise and a freshly carved fish.

Photo Credit: Jeremy Peterman/X

As is the penchant for when these two teams meet, the match got off to an absolutely flying start. The normally demure and reserved Sounders came out assertive, while the Timbers sought to continue their season-long offensive surge.

The wild start was punctuated by a fifth minute chance for Mason Toye, after an Antony shot/cross was parried right on the doorstep by Stefan Frei. The Seattle ‘keeper got to the ball first before Toye — but he paid the price. Frei took a collision to the head, and was replaced by Sounders backup Andrew Thomas.

Despite that flashpoint, the Sounders dominated the early going. With Portland’s propensity to push their fullbacks high, Seattle was more than happy to exploit the space in behind. Juan Mosquera had an especially difficult time with Paul Rothrock on the right side. The waves of pressure produced nearly half a dozen corner kicks in the opening twenty minutes for the visitors. The worrying trend of Portland struggling to successfully defend set pieces was present as well on those early corners.

The result was the Sounders coming perilously close to scoring on two occasions. In the ninth minute Mosquera got pantsed by Rothrock, and his low cross was nearly turned in by Jordan Morris if not for the timely intervention by David Ayala. And Pedro De La Vega headed into the back of the net off one of those corners — only to have it chalked off by the offside flag.

Those chances were shots across the bow for the Timbers, but they couldn’t generate any kind of early offensive rhythm. Seattle’s high counter-press after Portland won possession gave the boys in maroon fits, and as a result the Timbers couldn’t get the likes of Evander involved in the game.

That changed as the first half wore on. Evander started to work his way on the ball more, and Portland’s marauding runs from their fullbacks started to pay off. Toye got several more decent looks on goal, and Santiago Moreno started to establish himself as a factor that could not be ignored.

Photo credit: Craig Mitchelldyer/Portland Timbers

Because of this, as the half drew to a close it was Portland who was banging on the door to open the scoring. Nonetheless, the teams went into halftime locked at zeroes. The Timbers led the statistical offensive categories, but make no mistake — this rivalry match was still anyone’s to win.

The back-and-forth atmosphere of the game persisted into the second half, as Seattle settled down and started to pressure Portland’s goal once again. It looked as if it would take something precise, well-worked, and spectacular for either team to break the deadlock.

Portland provided all three in the game’s lone goal in the 55th minute. Claudio Bravo made an excellent stonewall tackle on De La Vega on one end, and then the Timbers were off and running. A flowing passing sequence saw the Timbers fly down the field in seconds, with the ball ending up at the feet of Juan Mosquera about forty yards out from goal.

With no Seattle defender providing pressure, Mosquera drove forward and had a go from about twenty yards out — and uncorked an absolute belter. Aided by a deflection off of Nouhou, Mosqeuera’s missile of a shot flew and dipped over Thomas into the back of the net. Just as he had last year when these two teams met, Mosquera scored in simply magnificent fashion.

Following the goal, it became all hands on deck at the back for the Timbers. Trailing and perhaps a bit pissed off, the Sounders came forward with fury. The introduction of head Timbers-killer Raul Ruidiaz added to the fervor, and the ensuing 15 minutes became Portland being tasked with forcing back Seattle’s renewed waves of attack.

The Timbers backline, much maligned all season, was up to that task — in exhilarating fashion. Multiple crucial last-minute stops from the likes of Dario Zuparic, Kamal Miller, and Toye denied the Sounders their chances to equalize. The Timbers Army, looming over Portland’s box and absorbing the action, fed off the play and became more and invigorated with each intervention.

As the game wound down to a close, that dynamic intensified. Seattle threw everything but the kitchen sink at Portland, and the Timbers closed up shop in a back five and with an extra midfielder.

Despite their best attempts, the Sounders ultimately could not produce anything close to the quality necessary to break Portland’s pleasantly surprisingly sturdy backline. As Maxime Crepeau collected and collapsed onto the final corner kick attempt, the final whistle blew and sealed it: the Timbers had felled the Sounders by a score of 1-0.

Goals — POR: Mosquera (55’) // SEA:🔪🐟☠️

Up Next: The international break comes once again, and the Timbers will be back in action on September 14 when they travel to take on Colorado in the Mile High State at 6:30 p.m. PT.

Reaction

Man beating those guys always feels good.

This time especially, as the Timbers were able to serve up some fresh revenge for the loss Seattle handed them at home in May. But moreso because the fact that Portland had to fight tooth and nail to gut (heh) this one out, and earned every single one of the three points.