Pain in Portland: Sounders drop dispiriting result to Timbers

Coming off an emotional loss to LAFC that ended their dreams of a U.S. Open Cup trophy, the Seattle Sounders had a chance to reinvigorate their season with a trip to Portland. They did not, conceding a second half goal to fall 1-0 to the Portland Timbers on Saturday.

The scoreless first half was most notable for an awful injury to Stefan Frei in the 5th minute. Frei made a double save, first tipping away a ball headed for the bottom corner before reacting quickly to deny Mason Toye the rebound, but Toye’s knee smashed into Frei’s face and left the Sounders goalkeeper on the ground. Frei received treatment and appeared to be bleeding heavily, and the Sounders were forced into a change as Andrew Thomas entered the game.

The Sounders had a couple of good chances as the half wore on, with Paul Rothrock causing problems down the wing and setting up an opportunity for Jordan Morris in the 9th minute, but a good defensive play by Kamal Miller denied Morris a clear look and as Morris attempted to turn around to get a shot off the ball was cleared. Corner service from Albert Rusnák provided Seattle’s other best chances, as Pedro de la Vega seemed to have scored the opener in the 19th minute when he put away the corner headed on by Cristian Roldan, but he was ruled offside. Then in the 33rd minute Morris was the one on the end of a corner, but his header was right at Portland GK Maxime Crepeau.

Andrew Thomas made a few good plays to maintain the shutout, particularly combining with some quality defending from Alex Roldan to prevent a dangerous moment in the 24th minute after some slick passing around the Seattle box allowed Portland to open up the Sounders defense, but the ball was cleared in the end and the Timbers had to settle for a corner.

The second half started relatively slowly, but in the 53rd minute it looked like Seattle might have a dangerous chance on their hands as de la Vega and Morris broke out on a counter following a corner. Morris, seeing himself without a clear path to goal, seemed to try to find Rothrock out left with a switch but overhit it and sent it out for a goal kick. Two minutes later the Timbers were on the board.

Juan Mosquera received the ball in the right channel, and with Nouhou backing off he surveyed his chances. As Nouhou stayed put at the edge of the box, Mosquera lined up his shot which took a deflection off of Nouhou before looping over Thomas and into the top corner in the 55th minute.

Seattle pushed for an equalizer, bringing on Raúl Ruidíaz and Georgi Minoungou for Rothrock and de la Vega immediately following the goal, but never found a breakthrough. Minoungou was an absolute live wire - as anyone who’s watched him has come to expect - and had Portland’s defenders in a series of the circles of hell as he dribbled at them again and again as he completed 4/7 dribbles in his 34 minutes on the field.

Minoungou and Ruidíaz combined to set up Seattle’s most dangerous chance following the goal in the 68th minute. Minoungou fought through multiple players to keep the ball alive before finding Ruidíaz in the area, and Ruidíaz hit a first-time pass to Morris who for a second looked like he may have an equalizer but his shot was deflected over the bar. Outside of that moment, although the Sounders got into dangerous positions, they never truly troubled Crepeau as he only had to make two saves to keep the clean sheet.

This result drops the Sounders into 8th in the West. They now have a week before they once again go on the road, this time to face the Columbus Crew on September 7.

Key moments

3 - Paul Rothrock pulls out the trekkers on the left sideline to evade a pair of defenders, then draws a foul as he drives into Portland’s half.

5- Save! Stefan Frei makes a fantastic double save, first denying Antony with a diving stop then with an instant reaction save to deny Mason , whose knee connects with Frei’s head in a scary looking play. Frei gets treatment for a very bloody head injury, and Andrew Thomas replaces him on the pitch.

9 - Another chance created by Rothrock as he gets around a defender and sends a ball in for Morris, but a touch from Kamal Miller slows the ball enough to keep Morris from being able to get a shot off before it’s cleared away.

19 - Pedro de la Vega appears to give the Sounders the lead off of a corner kick, but he’s ruled offside.

24 - The Sounders defense gets split and Alex Roldan and Andrew Thomas combine to eventually clear the immediate threat. The ball recycles, but Portland are only able to get a corner out of it.

33 - Morris makes good contact on a corner from Albert Rusnák, but the header is straight into the chest of Maxime Crepeau.

53 - Pedro de la Vega and Jordan Morris combine to get out on a counter after a Timbers corner, but Morris attempts to switch the ball for Rothrock but sends it out of bounds.

55 - Timbers goal. Juan Mosquera hits a shot from outside the area as Nouhou gives him time to drive at goal. The shot is deflected off of Nouhou and clips up and over Thomas and into the top corner. 1-0 Portland

63 - Georgi Minoungou is played in down the left by Rusnák and plays a ball for Morris in front of goal, but Miller is able to clear it away.

67 - Jackson Ragen nearly gets Seattle on the board as he gets a head on a Rusnák cross after a corner is recycled, but it’s headed out for a corner by Dario Zuparic.

68 - Minoungou fights to keep a play alive on the right before finding Raúl Ruidíaz in the box. Ruidíaz plays the ball in to Morris who gets a shot off, but it’s deflected out for a corner.

70 - Evander goes direct for goal on a free kick from about 30 yards out, but Thomas is able to push it up and over the bar.

Quick thoughts

Plan A has a stink on it: Maybe it was the game state, maybe it was the way the Timbers were setting up, but especially after the goal and the substitutions the Sounders didn’t seem to have much in the way of variety when it came to ideas for finding a goal. The options at that point seemed to be, to the exclusion of just about anything else, playing the ball to the wings and hoping a cross into the area would result in a goal. Sometimes it was on the ground, sometimes it was in the air hoping that Jordan Morris - or a centerback on a set piece - might win a header. The Sounders have the talent in their roster to try different things, but when the chips are down they seldom seem capable of any other route to goal.

A less dim spot: I won’t call it a bright spot, because in the context I don’t think there’s much reason to look for those here. But playing on the road against the highest-scoring attack in the West, the Sounders gave up precious little. Portland were largely forced to settle for low-percentage chances from outside the area. The only truly dangerous shot they had was Toye’s effort on the play that ended in Frei’s injury. Seattle were able to manage that while still trying to threaten on the other end. Obviously the other side of this is that Portland’s defense is the worst among playoff teams in the West and Seattle still couldn’t punish them.

Pedro de la Vega is this close: It feels like Pedro de la Vega is tantalizingly close to breaking through. He had yet another goal ruled offside in this one, when he put away a header from Cristian Roldan, but while he may have been onside for the initial service he was definitely off when Roldan headed the ball. De la Vega showed a willingness to play on both sides of the ball, but just couldn’t quite influence the game the way that both he and the Sounders believe he can. Almost counts for exactly nothing in this sport, but as de la Vega made his first MLS start in over a month he showed very real glimpses of what he can become.

Notable quote

Player spotlight

Georgi Minoungou – There wasn’t much to be excited about in this match, but from the moment Minoungou stepped on the field until the final whistle he was exciting. Minoungou had 27 touches and 7 of them were dribbles, of which he completed 4. His final product is still lacking, but he showed good reason to keep giving him minutes.