It was, by all accounts, everything Portland could have hoped for in a rivalry match.
Not too hot, not too cold, not completely underwater. Rival missing a starter due to an unfortunate choice in the previous match. Playmaker back from injury. All the boxes were checked.
Both sides had plenty of opportunities in Sunday’s Cascadia Cup match between the Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders. The Timbers are now atop the Cascadia Cup standings, tied on points with Vancouver, but leading via goal differential.
But it wasn’t until the 45th minute when things really started to come together for Portland. Early chances proved fruitless for the Timbers, but a pass from Lucas Melano to Diego Valeri just before the half put Portland on the board.
The Timbers returned from the half seeking to keep the momentum they’d built and did so with a second Valeri goal in the 50th, a goal the Argentine could hardly believe he’d scored. “I tried to put the ball there, maybe someone would get a deflection maybe, a hard ball for the keeper. I was lucky,” Valeri said, adding he was surprised that it went in. “It was a great goal.”
Argentine Diego Valeri returned from absence due to injury to score two goals against Cascadia rivals, the Seattle Sounders. Photo: Mark Murray
“Big players step up in big games. Adi was excellent, Darlington was excellent. Chara was Chara,” Portland coach Caleb Porter said after the match.
“We gave Valeri too much space,” Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. “He was good. If you give him that much time and space, he’ll show you he’s a good player. We gave him too much time and space.”
Portland forward Fanendo Adi with perhaps a bit too much of a hold on Sounder Chad Marshall’s shirt. Both netted goals for their respective teams Sunday. Photo: Mark Murray
Scoring Summary:
POR: Valeri (Melano), 44
POR: Valeri (Taylor), 50
SEA: Marshall (Ivanschitz), 59
POR: Adi (Melano), 64
Misconduct Summary:
POR: Jewsbury (Caution), 11
SEA: Jones (Caution), 37
SEA: Alonso (Caution), 66
Lineups & Stats:
POR: GK Gleeson, D Taylor, D Ridgewell ©, D Borchers, D Powell, M Jewsbury (Zemanski, 65), M Chara, M Nagbe, M Valeri (Barmby, 90), M Melano (Grabavoy, 83), F Adi
Substitutes Not Used: GK Hamilton, D Valentin, D Peay, F McInerney
TOTAL SHOTS: 16 (Valeri, 5); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Two players tied, 2); FOULS: 12 (Melano, 3); OFFSIDES: 2; CORNER KICKS: 4; SAVES: 5
SEA: GK Frei, D Mears, D Evans ©, D Marshall, D Jones (Remick, 72), M Alonso, M Roldan, M Friberg, M Ivanschitz (Kovar, 72) , F Valdez (Gomez, 77), F Morris
Substitutes Not Used: GK Miller, D Alfaro, D Fisher, F Anderson
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Valdez, 4); SHOTS ON GOAL: 6 (Two players tied, 2); FOULS: 10 (Two players tied, 2); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 12; SAVES: 3
Referee: Jair Marrufo
Assistant Referees: Frank Anderson, Jeff Hosking
4th Official: Mark Geiger
Attendance: 21,144
Seattle Sounders
Portland
