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Timbers vs. Sounders: Your Running Commentary

Portland Timbers Logo Seattle Sounders FC Logo

The Portland Timbers and Seattle Sounders square off at Jeld-Wen Field today in the latest installment of their Cascadia Derby (5pm, ESPN2 first, then ESPN).

The match is a vital one for two teams struggling at the moment. The Sounders come into Portland winless in six matches and in danger of slipping even further down the standings.

The Timbers are also in desperate need for points, having won just once in their past six matches. A victory today is vital to the team's hopes of climbing back into the Western Conference playoff race. Right now Portland is in last place in the West, but with multiple games in hand on the teams above them in the standings, the Timbers can start a climb with a victory today.

As if the rivalry weren't already filled with enough intrigue and intensity, Portland will be starting former Sounders fan favorite Mike Fucito today, as the Timbers trot out a very attack-minded side. Here are the lineups for both teams:

TIMBERS– Perkins; Jewsbury, Danso, Horst, Smith; Alhassan, Chara, Nagbe, Songo'o; Fucito, Boyd

SOUNDERS- Weber; Scott, Parke, Hurtado, Burch; Rosales, Alonso, Evans, Caskey; Montero, Johnson

If you will be watching today's match, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action.

Comments

  1. Portland beat Seattle for the first time in 4 years. Great job. Let’s not forget who was in last place before today’s match, lost to an amateur team in the open cup and will not be making the playoffs this year. Suck it portscum.

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  2. “blatantly wasted at least 15 minutes in the second half”

    I know you meant it as hyperbole, but that’s just ridiculous to assert. Watch the game again with a stop-watch. No, you don’t get to count the two times Alhassan went down with a legitimate injury that had him carted off.

    I think the Timbers actually need to learn how to waste significantly more time than they did.

    The biggest time waste was Montero’s antics from the 73rd minute on.

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  3. I hate to break it to you, but as a Portland fan, I’m not feeling what you think I should be feeling. I thought Seattle, especially Montero and their contingent of fans, were a disgrace. If anyone should be embarrassed, it’s the Sounders. Oh yeah, and we won.

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  4. It’s ok, as a Portland fan I thought Montero was working on his tape for tryouts for the Colombian Olympic diving team there in the second half. I agree with NaranjaFanatic that Ricardo Salazar could have easily yellow carded Montero moments earlier. When the ref is walking away from a player and whips his head around twice because of something that he says to him you have to imagine it was probably worth carding. I think we saw his frustration boil over and cause the red card.

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  5. EJ elbowed Horst in the face a few seconds after they both went up for a header… Horst took offence and pushed EJ away… Freddy ran up and pushed Horst -who went down easy. Freddy got the red when looking back it seemed EJ’s was the more serious incident. Palmer was stupid and deservedly sent off.
    Kind of hard to follow

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  6. After Montero was sent off, he appeared to put his hands on the AR and push him. I didn’t catch it the full play but if so that seems like a potential for extra game suspensions. I am a neutral in this game but admit a deep dislike for Montero’s antics.

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  7. From an outsiders view, I didn’t think either team demonstrated a lack of class although Seattle’s frustration really showed at the end. Seattle gave Portland the right to waste time when they defended poorly in the first half. That’s soccer in every league, in every country. You only hate it when you are on the other end of it.

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  8. I’d say NaranjaFanatic’s description is pretty fair – a chippy and frustrated Montero pushed a Portland player who made a meal of it and then tempers flared.

    From an admittedly non-objective perspective, Portland really embraced their nickname today – they went down so easily, frequently and dramatically that I expect that they’ll be working a deal with Montreal for Felipe here shortly.

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  9. I agree with greg, Portland may have won the game, but they ended it with no class whatsoever. They picked up the ball on every Sounders free kick and blatantly wasted at least 15 minutes in the second half. Sure, Montero pushed that guy, but he flopped on the ground like he had been hit with a baseball bat. Classless for sure. Behavior like that isnt good for the sport.

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  10. I just want to state the obvious and agree but also add that no stadium comes off better on tv than Jeld-Wen. I know Livestrong is supposed to be the nicest but on tv it doesn’t look nearly as cool and electric as Jeld-Wen. The only thing I don’t like about Seattle on tv is that everything looks so spread out. Jeld-Wen looks much bigger than it is and everyone looks like they are right on top of the action.

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  11. Me, I believe MemRook wanted an objective account of what happened. Montero was asking for a booking moments earlier. Impossible to know what was said but as the ref walked by Montero, he whipped his head around and there was a heated verbal exchange between he and Montero. At that point I think Montero was asking for a card (although surely a yellow) because as the ref walked off, Montero started up again and there was a second exchange. I really thought he should have carded Montero at that point and perhaps that would have ended it there but right after that Montero shoved the Portland defender in the back. Of course the defender went down easily but the shove was purely out of frustration and it looked like the ref was just fed up with Montero’s attitude. Palmer’s straight red was even more useless as he wasn’t even in the play when he entered the fray with an elbow.

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  12. Montero gave a light shove to a Portland defender twice his size and the defender fell over. Palmer the proceeded to elbow a Sounder in the head and got sent off.

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  13. Could someone explain objectively what happened in that scuffle at the end where Montero was red carded? My DVR cut off right when it happened.

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  14. Say what you will but there’s no better atmosphere in MLS than Seattle and Portland…You SBI East Coasters aren’t even close….

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