The Portland Timbers travel to CenturyLink Field on Sunday to take on the Seattle Sounders at 6:30 pm. PT (FS1; KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, El Rey 1360am) in the rivals’ first match in Seattle in 2016.
The Timbers defeated the Sounders 3-1 on July 17 at Providence Park in Portland behind a brace from Diego Valeri and another tally from Fanendo Adi. Chad Marshall scored the lone goal for Seattle.
Ahead of the match this weekend, we have a look at the Sounders’ top five goals versus. the Timbers at CenturyLink Field.
5. Eddie Johnson - Aug. 25, 2013
In front of a Sounders CenturyLink Field record of 67,385 fans, Johnson headed in a free kick from Mauro Rosales in the 60th minute to give Seattle a 1-0 lead and what turned out to be the game-winner. Johnson lost his mark and got the slightest of deflections to beat Donovan Ricketts at the far post. At the time, it was Johnson’s fourth goal in five matches against the Timbers.
4. Eddie Johnson - March 16, 2013
Johnson tapped in a one-time volley from just inside the six-yard box to give the Sounders a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute. He was the beneficiary of a brilliant half-field run and pinpoint cross from Steve Zakuani, who picked out a wide-open Johnson on the back post.
3. Eddie Johnson - Oct. 7, 2012
In similar fashion to No. 4, Johnson scored a wonderful one-timed effort from the top of the box off an inswinging cross from Brad Evans. Johnson slotted home the half-volley with his left foot coming across his body and gave the Sounders a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute. The goal was the eventual game-winner and the first of three for Seattle on the day, as it rolled to a 3-0 victory, its largest MLS home win over the Timbers.
2. Osvaldo Alonso - Nov. 2, 2013
In the first leg of a home-and-home playoff series, the Sounders trailed the Timbers 2-0 in the 90th minute before Ozzie Alonso scored on a delightful left-footed volley from 12 yards out. Seattle would drop the match, 2-1, and the aggregate series, 5-3, but Alonso’s strike was still a thing of beauty.
1. Alvaro Fernandez - May 14, 2011
In the rivalry's first MLS installment, Alvaro Fernandez scored the opening goal in the 52nd minute from a beautiful buildup and subsequently pretty finish. Off a long throw-in on the right side, three flick-ons sent the ball to an open Fernandez on the opposite flank. He controlled the bouncing ball off his chest and then buried a low, left-footed half-volley past Troy Perkins to give the Sounders a 1-0 lead. Futty Danso would erase the advantage in the 65th minute in an eventual 1-1 draw, but Fernandez’s technical finish would serve as the first of many memorable goals to come in Seattle and Portland’s MLS history.
