Yimmi Chara Pushes Timbers Past Sounders, 1-0

PORTLAND, OR – The Timbers returned to rainy Providence Park on Wednesday evening to defeat the Seattle Sounders by a score of 1-0. A win against the Sounders propels the Timbers to 21 points for the season, tied for the most points in the MLS Western Conference standings alongside their Cascadia rivals.

For the Timbers, it was another standout performance from Designated Player Yimmi Chara. The younger Chara notched a goal for the third consecutive match after getting the Timbers on the board in the 13^th minute. Chara put his pace on display again, seemingly finding another gear to get past the Seattle defense and put a low, right-footed shot past keeper Stefan Frei courtesy of an excellent Jeremy Ebobisse through-ball.

For the Sounders, it was an uncharacteristic performance in finishing chances in front of goal. Forward Raul Ruidiaz had a rough night after failing to capitalize on a number of solid chances in the first half. Ruidiaz had his best look at goal in the 21^st minute after finding space atop the box with keeper Steve Clark off his line. Ruidiaz had what looked like a routine chip-shot lined up, but failed to put the ball on target.

Unlucky as he was to be kept off the score sheet, Ruidiaz was perhaps lucky to be kept on the field after a 56^th minute VAR decision. After colliding with Portland defender Pablo Bonilla, Ruidiaz went to ground and prompted a quick yellow card decision from referee Allen Chapman against Bonilla. After review, it was apparent Ruidiaz intentionally kicked-out in the direction of Bonilla as Bonilla was moving away from the play. Chapman took another look at it at the VAR booth, but his decision was to issue Ruidiaz a yellow instead of a red.

The Portland defense had a busy night, especially toward the end of the match as the Sounders brought numbers forward. Steve Clark made six saves in goal and kept a clean sheet while starting CB’s Julio Cascante and Dario Zuparic both looked sharp in managing a high line in front of Clark. Newcomer Pablo Bonilla also had a great match providing some key blocks in the box and keeping Jordan Morris locked down.

Steve Clark spoke of the team’s defensive performance against Seattle:

“I think we played a total game, that’s the key here. We’ve been this good for parts of games, but tonight we put it all together. So I think that you saw a total team performance and you do that for 96 minutes, you know we have a very good shot of coming out with three points.”

Next up, the Timbers take aim at a fading Whitecaps squad on Sunday, 9/27 at 7 pm PST (ROOT SPORTS).

Earlier this week, the Timbers announced the last stretch of regular season action. Due to COVID-19 precautions, the Timbers will continue to face regional opponents only.