8/26/22

(Portland, OR) –

The Seattle Sounders path to the MLS Western Conference Playoffs got even steeper as Seattle fell 2-1 at Providence Park in Portland on Friday night,  with the Timbers earning the 2022 Cascadia Cup.

It was an ideal start for the Sounders striking first in the 8^th minute after Alex Roldan delivered a splendid cross into the box for Colombian defender Yeimar, whose leaping header gave the Sounders a 1-0 lead.

From then on it was mostly Portland who applied the pressure on Seattle’s goal, creating turnovers off of mistimed Sounders passes, and tied it on a questionable penalty decision on a Yeimar challenge on Eryk Williamson in the 40^th, resulting in a penalty shot that Dairon Asprilla converted to tie it at 1-1 in the 41^st.

Portland had momentum entering the 2nd half and continued to control possession and create opportunities, and the Timbers took the lead in the 50^th when veteran Sebastian Blanco scoring his 7^th goal of the season to make it 2-1 Portland. The goal was on a set piece free kick and Eryk Williamson delivered a perfect ball to the far post that Asprilla redirected to Blanco at the near post who tapped it in. It was another defensive lapse by the Sounders defense that proved to be the difference. Seattle had a golden opportunity to tie it in the in the 84^th when defender Jackson Ragen sent a header off of the cross bar that narrowly failed to cross the goal line. Portland dropped off late in the match to give the Sounders more of the ball, giving Seattle another set piece in the waning moments  but the cross was cleared away to give Portland the win.

It was a huge win for the Timbers playoff hopes, as Portland got into the 7^th and final playoff position with 36 points, and 8-12-8 overall. The Sounders are at 33 points and at 10-3-14 are tied with Houston at 14 for most losses in the Western Conference. Seattle is in 10^th place in the West with 7 matches remaining. The Sounders are winless in their last 4 matches as they travel to Orlando on Wednesday, a team currently in a playoff chase in the Eastern Conference.

Alex’s takeaways

For the 2^nd straight match Sounders fans feel robbed by a penalty decision that did not go their way; while the penalty call on Yeimar was a major talking point for Sounders fans on social media, and it was definitely a soft call by the referee, Seattle did themselves no favors in this one, and didn’t do enough to deserve the win. I agree with Head Coach Brian Schmetzer who said after the match that after scoring early on a well-executed set piece, the team sat back and let the Timbers control the game with possession and get more chances in the attacking 3^rd.  Also, Seattle just gave the ball away too many times in their own third of the pitch, and really struggled to get opportunities. It was also frustrating that the two top attacking threats for Seattle in Jordan Morris and Raul Ruidiaz were held in check offensively and never really found their groove like they did in Los Angeles against the Galaxy in their last match when the Sounders scored 3 goals. With the painful loss to rival Portland giving the Timbers the Cascadia Cup and a playoff position for the moment, Sounders will have to dig deep to get a win in Orlando before coming back to Seattle for a key stretch run that includes four home matches at Lumen Field in their final 6 contests.

Sounders Captain Nicolas Lodeiro knows they have to turn up the urgency level to avoid missing the MLS Playoffs for the first time in the MLS. “We know that the Sounders have a long history of being a playoff team and a strong playoff team, but right now we are not a playoff team. we cant think of the playoffs when we need to win or were out, Lodeiro said. “The most important thing right now is the next game and to start winning. Right now the situation is complicated, but we have the players, and good team that that turn things around without a doubt.