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Seattle sees off 10-man Timbers in Portland

SoundersTimbers (Getty) 

By CALEB SONNELAND

In the return leg of the heated Cascadia derby between hosts Portland Timbers and the traveling Seattle Sounders, it was the visitors who marched away with all three points and the bragging rights in the Pacific Northwest with a 3-2 win.

Osvaldo Alonso smashed home the game-winner in the 82nd minute from the penalty spot after substitute Lamar Neagle was felled by Eric Brunner inside the area to set up the spot kick.  Brunner was subsequently sent off for the challenge and left the hosts to finish the match short-handed.

But it was Fredy Montero who was the hero for the visitors and the villain for the hosts as the DP snagged two second-half goals at the Jeld-Wen to keep his side in contention.

After having looked lethal all match, Montero finally got on the score sheet in the 57th minute when he curled home a beautiful free kick just inside Perkins near post to even things up.  The DP hit the shot with a chip on his shoulder after being harshly fouled outside the area by Danso and the two exchanged words before the latter had his name put into the book.  

The Colombian doubled his total in the 74th minute after a good ball from substitute from Lamar Neagle found Mauro Rosales who touched on to Montero for the striker to smash home from close range for his fifth goal of the season.

The Timbers had regained the edge in the 70th minute and looked to close out the game when Jorge Perlaza sped down the left side and had a shot/cross that was deflected off Tyson Wahl and past a hopeless Kasey Keller.  Keller cut a frustrated figure between the sticks as it was the second goal he conceded in the match but was helpless to prevent.

Portland was first off the mark after Kalif Alhassan forced a Jeff Parke own goal just 49 seconds into the second half.  Alhassan skipped down the right hand touchline before zipping the ball into the area and off Parke's foot to leave Keller with no chance and give the hosts a 1-0 advantage.

Montero had a handful of chances all day but couldn't complete his hat trick, even in the 88th minute when his free header six yards out was denied on the line by Perkins.  Sounders fans screamed goal, but replay showed that the Timbers shot stopper kept the effort out.

Montero continued to look lethal just minutes after his goal when Friberg fed the Colombian into the area, but once again, Perkins made himself big and came up with a point blank save to keep things level.

It went from bad to worse in the 55th minute when starting center back Jhon Kennedy Hurtado went down with a knee injury in the build up to a good Portland offensive that saw Jorge Perlaza miss a tap-in from six yards out while already up 1-0.  Hurtado was replaced by Patrick Ianni after being forced to leave the game with a right knee injury. 

The packed house in Portland was a hostile environment for the visitors and cut an intimidating place to play.

"It was crazy," said Neagle. "The Timbers fans were intimidating, or they tried to be."

Portland packed 18,627 into the Jeld-Wen and those in attendance were very vocal throughout. But was Neagle nervous to come in for such a big fixture?

"No, not really.  I got 30 to 40 minutes to go out there and do my thing.  I was fresh and I knew I could run at their outside backs, so I did."

Neagle was an impact sub, setting up the assist on Montero's second goal and drawing the game-winning penalty in his impressive shift.  

The rematch in Portland follows the first clash between the two rivals when they slugged out a 1-1 draw thanks to goals from Alvaro Fernandez and "Futty" Danso.

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What did you think of the game?  How much does this result mean in the Pacific Northwest?  Is Montero your Man of the Match?

Share your thoughts below

Comments

  1. A Tacoma dome game of Portland vs. Seattle Sonics and a likewise game in Portland goes to show that the Sounders are the first team Seattleites will travel for. The Tacoma Dome game was half Blazer fans.

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  2. I think you misunderstood his jersey. He’s actually a hockey fan and he buys his pucks from a company called “Fortland”

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  3. Yes, lassidawg, they booed hard when he was leaving the field. I think that’s what we’re all complaining about.

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  4. The problem is that it is impossible to tell when someone is flopping sometimes. Yes, occasionally there are obvious injuries. Yes, boos should probably be reserved a little more … it was an emotional game with a psyched up crowd who watched a guy lay on the pitch and the hope the Timbers would kick the ball out for him.

    I can’t remember which flounder did the same thing later in the game and Alonso then went and hacked down Marcelin and stood over him going off because the Timbers didn’t kick the ball out (he drew a yellow for it). By that time “injured player” was back up and running. He too was booed and deserved every second of it.

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  5. Fine, I will downgrade them to annoying.

    At least I didn’t call 100s of thousands of people annoying.

    Plus he started it. 😉

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  6. Ha! That’s too simplitic and the issue is much more complicated than that. FIFA established more guidance for what is denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity than the simple Rules of the Game you’re quoting. And I think FIFA is looking at clarifying it more. I thought the defender got the ball THEN took out the attacker. Therefore, the ball was gone and the obvious goal scoring opportunity (measured by the 4 Ds) was gone as well. How can the attacker even shot the ball when it deflected off his forehead? Lastly, the defender made a challenge that was not cynical or a professional foul, which relates to why the rule exists to begin with. It was the wrong call per FIFA guidance on the 4 Ds of DOGSO, not the type of foul intended to be punished by the DOGSO rule, and unfair based on the nature of the foul. So, how do you define a DOGSO? Ya know, other than typing it from the rules.

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  7. Yeah refs did a great job i thought. (only in hindsight can i say that because when i think back on it, i can’t remember their part in the game, except for the red card, which i totally agreed with) The referee correctly called the red, as it was a clear goal scoring opportunity, denied with an obvious foul.
    Poor decision on the defenders part but i can’t blame him, he was doing all he could to get the ball, with no time to sit and reflect on his decision… Portland played okay, but Seattle overcame, despite the frustration of two unlucky own goals. GO Seattle!

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  8. oh, do you mean the customers? just like the TA has been calling seattle customers for the past three seasons? you mean you have people who arent going apesh*t the whole game and that makes them lame. PTFC now have all the pomp and corporate flare that we do. for chris’ sake, you have a WWF reject cutting logs and parading them around the field like hacksaw jim dugan. fireworks, huge tifo, etc.
    swallow your pride TA and recognize it is what happens when you go big. but you wouldnt know since you have never been big, at anything.
    SOUNDERS!

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  9. So often we come on here and rip the refs, so I thought I would give some props to the refs for doing a great job on the match. They did what they were supposed to do, stay out of the way of the match and not be involved in the decision.

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  10. The red card is meant to keep players from pulling players down before they get to the box. However I think it is a good rule even in the box. If you are defender it would be better to have let Neagle try and score instead of risking the PK and card. The keeper would have a better shot at stopping the shot and you would still be on the field to help your team even if he doesn’t.

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  11. It was an automatic red card for denying a scoring opportunity in the box. I saw a great photo today in the Oregonian of Brunner leg over Neagle’s shoulder.

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  12. A player is sent off and shown the red card if he commits any of the following seven offences:

    5. denies an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick

    learn the rules

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  13. I agree. While I do think it was a foul and the penalty appropriately awarded, I don’t think he deserved to be sent off, maybe a yellow card at most, but even that would be iffy based on the foul. I’m actually surprised there aren’t more comments about the foul yet.

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  14. Lol what? Pretty sure “ignorant idiots” is a bit more inflammatory than “annoying”. Oh Portland fans, just be happy you put a bird on it.

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  15. It was a grreat experience all in all. The concessions at my end were struggling to keep up so iguess it makes sense why they capped it. No worries about the fools in the ta. There were only a couple and we have our share as well. Get more than ten people in a group and someone
    is bound to be an idiot. TA has done a good job of keeping the songs simple as well. Things like ‘bluest skies’ are tough to pick up

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  16. You do realize that they have won US Open Cup, right? That’s the oldest Cup competition in the US and one of the qualifiers for the CONCACAF Champions League. I’m not a Sounders fan either, but I just thought I’d point that out for future reference.

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  17. I enjoyed the match. I didn’t think Spencer managed the game well with his substitutes and was driven on emotion which clouded his judgment. I hated the 4-1-4-1 formation selection, and it was obviously the wrong selection against Seattle.

    The game should have ended with 22 players on the field. The red card was the wrong call, but I wasn’t surprised by the misinterpretation of the rule by that referee. It wasn’t a professional foul or serious foul play, so it can’t be a red card. It was a simple foul and penalty, and maybe it was a border-line yellow card for dangerous play. The Timber’s player got the ball from behing but wiped out the Seattle player. Okay, it’s a foul. When did the awarding of a penalty not become enough punishment for a foul in the box? Nothing in the rules call for a sending off. Same thing for the USA/Brazil women’s match, except I didn’t think there was a foul in that one. A professional foul is a deliberate foul, and in both cases, the defenders were honestly going for the ball. I’m beginning to expect shockingly wrong/game-changing calls in MLS and the WWC, and to see a game changed by a referee mistake is so frustrating.

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