The Seattle Sounders take on the Portland Timbers tonight in CenturyLink Field in the first leg of their Western Conference semifinal series (10pm, NBC Sports).
The Sounders come in having just beaten the Colorado Rapids on Wednesday in the West play-in game, but there’s no time to rest as they must now beat a rested and in-form Timbers side that will be favored in the series.
SBI will be providing live commentary on tonight’s match so please feel free to follow along here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Tonight’s commentary is after the jump):
Poaching is Dempsey’s game.
Dempsey is going to start getting goals….he’s consistently right there….
Dempsey critics can howl, and yes he needs to score, but he’s been all over the place tonight winning balls, winning corners and coming so close so many times. Mehos had a dang good match.
His job is to score. He’s the biggest signing in the history of the league. He needed to score.
He was everywhere and just missed the net most of the times he shot.
Meh. Guy had a great match. He is clearly getting his form back. By next month he will be scoring in bushels…. Oops, sorry Sounders. MLS transfer window kinda sucks huh.
illegal throw-in. Evans foot over the line
Got to give it to the crowd. In full voice behind the Sounders down 2-0 in the 89th minute. Good stuff.
Dempsey is apparently cursed. Probably for his ridiculous behind the plant foot cross attempt during the regular season.
Inches.
So much money for Clint Dempsey to miss the goal consistently.
Dempsey EJ and Evans look like they’ll be free to go to Scotland anyway, perhaps Zusi as well
Is Toledo kidding us? That tackle was ridiculously reckless.
Don’t know MLS rules that well. Do these home and home ties use an away goals rule?
No: extra time and then PKs, if necessary.
No away goals rule
And they nearly did.
Seattle’s got everyone forward for a set piece, understandably. But if Portland hits them on the countrer they’ll kill off the tie now.
Neagle’s got to be one of the most annoying players in MLS.
Seems like every game I see him in he misses at least one great chance. Today he has added to that by repeatedly giving the ball away. Don’t know what Sigi sees in him.
No one n Seattles left side knows how to strike a cross.
Whoa. Dempsey with a great volley just wide.
Zigi getting ready to put on Shalrie Joseph.
As I said. Inches.
Deuce consistently inches away from making a play. He’s thinking too much out there and not reacting.
time for pete carroll to make a change
Richard Sherman is having none of this.
and sherman is the best cb in the business
He’s coming on!
That attempted slide tackle on his Nagbe’s first touch was just awful defending. Terrible. Should have stayed on his feet and kept Nagbe in front of him.
That said, very well played by Nagbe.
Kind of funny actually. If that makes contact it’s a red and a penalty. He’s lucky he was so bad he missed.
Well I guess Dempsey’s agent can start working on that loan deal
Filthy goal against the Seahawks.
Uh oh Zigi.
Neagle trying to dive. Toledo not having it.
Tons of pace in this match. Everybody’s going full speed all the time. It’s got to slow down soon.
That’s just a stonecold penalty.
Coming from the side and not moving toward the ball.
Not a penalty.
Absolutely a penalty. And a stupid one at that.
That’s a foul anywhere on the field. Hahneman was getting to that. There was no need to go in.
Had he moved toward the ball to shield it would have been a different story. But he didn’t. He made no play on the ball.
This field is a joke. Appearances do matter.
Don’t know the logistics, but I would have thought they could have gotten a grounds crew to work through the night after playing without the football lines and still have it ready before the Seahawks game tomorrow. Maybe it takes longer than I realize.
But yes, the field looks awful.
I think people need to get over it. The NFL Raiders play on a field with a baseball diamond (and it wasn’t too long ago this applied to multiple NFL franchises). Once MLS gets their ratings up (and they will) they can ask the public to throw down major taxpayer financing for their stadiums (and they will). I’d enjoy the soccer (assuming your team wins).
+1
I love when players do something like come into a tackle with your studs raised and make full contact only to yell at and berate the official for calling it.
Hey Seattle fans, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2UP86bciVA
Why is dempsey taking corners? Don’t you want your goal scorer you shelled out millions for to actually have a chance to get a SoG? Isn’t one of the best aspects of dempsey’s game poaching headers and finding space in the box?
It’s not that f*cking hard to put a dangerous cross in off a corner. Get mauro or someone else to do it. Btw dempseys corner crosses have also kinda sucked.
+1. I made the same point above. Doesn’t make sense.
I was making the same point after the Sounders game with Colorado. I also wondered why they had Burch take a free kick just outside the box. At least they corrected that today and Dempsey kept coming close. He is almost back in form, coming close about four different times.
Portland 40 yards and goal lol
So, no yellow for Scott grabbing Toledo? That’s quite some restraint from the official.
Are the Seahawks winning yet?
+10
Russell Wilson will be coming in after the half
Come on Portland. Settle down. Put together 5 passes in a row. Seattle will pressure every time they lose the ball. When they pressure players around the ball need to move off the ball and get open..break down the pressure..play keep away the way you have all season. Let’s get more compact in all 1/3’s of the field..break down that defensive pressure. Take over the game before the half.
Sounders front office and coach have not a clue, yeah lets waste all our cap space on one two slow star and the other on the laziest player I have ever seen not named Montero.
Sometimes I hate you Ricketts!
Deuce should not be taking corners set pieces unless hes shooting on goal. He’s the second best head on that team by far. He should be in the box.
Completely agree. Been wondering about this as well. Bad decision by sigi if you ask me
Seattle Sounders: Million dollar offense. Ten cent defense.
Million dollars? I think the price tag is about 10 million dollars a season if you add it all up.
The football lines actually help. You score a touchdown (goal) when you get to the back of the endzone. Pretty cool
Go for the 2 point conversion
Well played.
and Jason and ives ignore the elephant in the room and act as though mls is not looking bush right now
Because it’s by far the least important facet of this match. Why feed into the whining. Stop crying about the lines and pay attention to the match.
Look at that huge Seahawks logo. Great.
RCTID!!! F*** Seattle!!
It’s as if Seattle refused to be one-upped by NE’s terrible looking field and took measures to retain the lead in that category…
KC should play the second leg Arrowhead.
I think people need to get over it. The NFL Raiders play on a field with a baseball diamond (and it wasn’t too long ago this applied to multiple NFL franchises). Once MLS gets their ratings up (and they will) they can ask the public to throw down major financing for their stadiums (and they will). I’d enjoy the soccer (assuming your team wins).
Stop making good points so I can continue complaining about the lines.
I enjoy the soccer in spite of the field. At least in Oakland when the Raiders play the lines on the field aren’t for baseball
Between NE and Seattle, it’s easy to forget how far our league has come. Gridiron lines as far as the eye can see. I feel like it’s 1998 again and I kind of want to puke.
freakin A man. barf
Is it wrong that I’m rooting against NE and Seattle strictly because I don’t want to watch anymore games on football lined astro turf?
Nope. I’m right there with you. Embarrassing.
+1
Yes, it is wrong. They are freaking lines. Get over it.
they are freaking lines for a different game, and aside form it being a distraction, it’s a joke. telling folks to get over it? this is a message board where we talk about these things man, come on
Hey folks. Huge windstorm in Seattle today. In my neighborhood we have electricity but not cable. Signed up for MLS Live but they are blacking out the game locally. Can anybody point me to a stream of the game?
the ne v skc game was an embarrassment to the league on so many levels
How long does it really take to paint the feild? Wouldn’t it have been better to just play at like noon today?
Those disgusting fields have ruined this whole Saturday of play-offs.
Agreed.
STFU about the field. You think we like it,,,,well we don’t. Fact of the matter is the NFL is the most popular sport in the USA and we have to deal with it. Bye the way, I hope you fall off you horse and skin you knee and you’re mother is out of Neosporin.
your, stupid spell check
+1.
-1
Net zero, son!
+3.14159265
Net pie, grandson!
no one attacked you or the fine people of Seattle or your awesome atmosphere! no need to take it personally the fact that your team’s field looked how it looked last night, which was awful
wow, bad field. mls looks bush league in the playoffs
+1
Agreed. The fans of Seattle deserve a soccer-specific stadium.
why? Seattle hasnt given them one. Their large FOOTBALL feild is why they lead the league in attendance. not because they can out sell portland.