The Sounders suffered another non-victory against archrivals the Portland Timbers on MLS Decision Day in front of 36,341 supporters, drawing 1-1 at home. Both clubs had their playoff spots secured, where the Sounders were fighting to finish in 3rd place and the Timbers for 7th or 8th place. It has been 2,702 days since the Sounders last defeated the Timbers at home during the regular season, back on May 27, 2017 in front of 47,362 supporters. “It’s a complete loss,” described Head Coach Brian Schmetzer.
Schmetzer described the feeling of another failure to beat Portland, particularly at home: “Everybody’s super frustrated. This was as good a chance as any to end that streak certainly against a lively home crowd with Cascadia Cup on the line. I’m super disappointed about not being able to bring that to our fans.”
The Cascadia Cup was also at stake, with the Sounders needing to defeat Portland to reclaim the supporter-owned cup. Portland had the edge on Cascadia, however, since they have scored one goal more than the Sounders. Vancouver’s first-place status in Cascadia was only temporary, however, since the scenario in the standings made it inevitable for either Seattle or Portland to overtake them.
Aimee Worthington / Area Sports Network
Before kickoff, the ECS showcased a thunderous tifo, a response to the Timbers Army's recurring horror movie-themed tifos. The tifo featured the Scooby Doo Mystery Gang unveiling Timber Joey, the villain, with the message, "You thought you could scare us?"
The Sounders played the first half with the vast majority of momentum and opportunities, shutting down any Timbers threat. A handful of crosses, corners, and header opportunities were barely missing the final finish; however, all the hard work paid off when Yeimar opened the scoring in the 37th minute through a powerful header into the bottom corner. “I’m happy I scored the goal, but we didn’t get the points that we needed,” said Yeimar after the game, translated from Spanish.
Soon into the second half, the Sounders almost doubled their lead after Obed Vargas, who made an artistic run into the box, squared it across goal to find Paul Rothrock. However, Rothrock, who had to go near full stretch at an angle, could not place the ball on target from up close.
Earving Marquez / Area Sports Network
On multiple occasions, the referee made questionable decisions when it came to calling fouls and granting advantages. On a couple of occasions, referee Ismir Pekmic called fouls in favor of the Sounders; however, the Rave Green were cut off from promising opportunities consequentially, as they were on the break as the whistle was blown.
The Sounders continued their consistency with the ball and movements, but Portland broke through the Sounders defense to level the score at the 68th minute. Ragen lunged at Antony too early, who dribbled into an opening to slot the ball into Frei’s bottom-right corner.
Immediately after the restart, circumstances turned for the worse when Obed Vargas received a second yellow card while attacking, chopping the Sounders down to ten men. Vargas received the second yellow card for pushing over Dario Zuparic during his attempt to win the ball. However, the push seemed natural and harsh for a second yellow card. Referee Ismir Pekmic was strict on foul calls all game, handing out yellow cards often. The crowd, furious, began chanting “Ref you suck” in fury. Once in control of the game and expected to win, the Sounders found themselves tied and forced to defend the eleven-man Timbers from behind.
Earving Marquez / Area Sports Network
Stefan Frei commented on the state of the game after the match, saying “Hard playing down two men, but the same time we need to find the second goal. I think that’s one thing we’ll look at too. Frei went on to express his frustrations on some questionable refereeing decisions, such as Referee Ismir Pekmic’s decision to cut off several promising Sounders attacks after a foul occurred, awarding a freekick rather than giving the advantage.
The Sounders were able to stabilize themselves in the final fifteen minutes, resuming the press for a winning goal to beat Portland. However, Seattle was unable to secure the home victory against Portland. The long, tiring streak of failing to beat Portland at home in the regular season will continue far past 2,700 days.
Aimee Worthington / Area Sports Network
Both sides will move into the playoffs next, where Portland will play the Vancouver Whitecaps at home in the wild card, and the Sounders will play the Houston Dynamo in the Round One best-of-three series.
Despite Portland being the 9th seed in the West, BC Place, home of 8th seed Vancouver, has a schedule conflict, and therefore the game will be played in Oregon. The Sounders will have home field priority against Houston; they will play them in Seattle on Monday, October 28.
Cover Photo: Earving Marquez / Area Sports Network
