SEATTLE, WA – After an underwhelming result against the Seattle Sounders at Providence Park two weeks ago, the Timbers returned the favor to earn all three points against their arch-rivals at Century Link Field on Sunday evening, defeating the Sounders 2-1. The Timbers are now unbeaten in their last four road matches against the Sounders.
It’s a rivalry rarely lacking drama and in the early moments of the match the Timbers experienced a nervous and exciting turn of events. MLS is Back Tournament MVP, and the always impactful Sebastian Blanco, suffered an apparent right-knee injury in the second minute of the match. Blanco made an attempt at dispossessing Seattle’s Joao Paulo with an outstretched right-leg that landed awkwardly on the turf. Blanco was replaced by midfielder Marvin Loria in the 5th minute after it was clear he wasn’t going to be able to continue.
In the 9th minute, midfielder Eryk Williamson put Portland on the board after some terrific 1-2 play with Diego Valeri. After a poor Seattle clearance, Williamson cut a pass back to Valeri just outside the box who then sent Williamson in via a terrific toe-poke pass amongst a sea of Sounders defenders. It was Williamson’s first career MLS goal as he continues his breakout season for the Timbers.
Shortly before halftime, the Sounders equalized after a long stretch of possession was capped off by a Kelvin Leerdam goal. In the 41st minute with plenty of space around him, Leerdam made great contact with the ball atop the box and smashed it past keeper Steve Clark.
Prior to the Leerdam goal, Clark made an important save by making himself big to deny a charging Jordan Morris in the 40th minute. Aside from the goal allowed and two important saves, Clark had a relatively quiet night as Seattle managed just three shots on target.
The Timbers were hit with another injury setback as defender Larrys Mabiala went down with a thigh injury during first-half stoppage time. Mabiala was ultimately deemed unable to continue and replaced with Julio Cascante at the beginning of the second half.
Eryk Williamson and Felipe Mora broke the 1-1 deadlock in the 83rd minute after Williamson delivered an inch-perfect pass into the clever run of Mora. Mora tucked his right-footed shot past keeper Stefan Frei into the bottom-left corner of the net, his third goal in as many games.
With a goal and an assist, Williamson had a busy night in midfield with a stat-line that also included 93% passing accuracy, six duels won, and three interceptions.
Coach Savarese had high praise for the emerging midfielder.
“A lot of the good play that he showed today offensively and a lot of the discipline defensively that he provided definitely gave us a lot of balance, and he had a very good match like every other player today that sacrificed for each other to get the result.”
No immediate injury updates were available, but the team indicated both Blanco and Mabiala will undergo further evaluation upon returning to Portland.
The Timbers face another tough Western Conference outing on Sunday, September 13th against LAFC down at Banc of California Stadium. The Timbers will be without Diego Chara who picked up his fifth yellow card of the season against Seattle and will receive a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation. The match kicks off at 8 pm PST on ROOT SPORTS.
