The Portland Timbers defeated the Seattle Sounders 3-0 on Saturday at Lumen Field behind goals from Jaroslaw Niezgoda, Santiago Moreno and Dairon Asprilla.
The Sounders were all over the Timbers in the opening 45 minutes but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Nicolás Lodeiro’s one-timed redirection from close range in the 16th minute hit goalkeeper Aljaž Ivačič on the shoulder and went out for a corner. On the ensuing corner kick, Jackson Ragen’s header was cleared off the line by Claudio Bravo.
Portland found the opening goal in the 24th minute against the run of play. Sebastián Blanco’s cross to the back post found the head of Niezgoda, who headed home his seventh goal of the season.
The Sounders had a penalty shout in the 38th minute when Lodeiro went down in the box, but no foul was given live or on Video Review.
Raúl Ruidíaz thought he found the equalizer in the 45th minute but his shot rang the outside of the post and went wide.
The Sounders suffered a blow just seconds into the second half as Ragen was shown a second yellow card and was sent off.
Goalkeeper Stefan Frei kept the Sounders in it minutes later when he saved a point-blank effort from Blanco on the left side of the six-yard box.
The Timbers doubled their advantage in the 82nd minute when Moreno converted a penalty after Nouhou was whistled for a handball after Video Review.
Portland added a third in the 85th minute when Asprilla finished a counterattack while Seattle was pushing to pull one back.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
Banner celebration
Despite the result, the Sounders unveiled their 2022 Concacaf Champions League banner on Saturday before the match. The club wore CCL Champions patches on their kits.
Tough breaks
The Sounders couldn’t catch a break and had several unlucky events go against them on Saturday. The Timbers’ goal came against the run of play, Lodeiro was denied a penalty, Ruidíaz hit the post and the Sounders had to play down a man for 45 minutes.
Midwest road trip
The Sounders will hit the road next week for two matches in the Midwest. They’ll first head to Nashville SC on Wednesday (5:30 p.m. PT; FOX 13+, Prime Video, 93.3 KJR FM, El Rey 1360AM) before visiting Soldier Field to take on Chicago Fire FC (5 p.m. PT; FOX 13+, Prime Video, 93.3 KJR FM, El Rey 1360AM).
