Sounders-Timbers Preview
The bitter rivalry between the Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers has been mostly one-sided recently, with the Sounders taking three straight MLS matchups as part of a four-game unbeaten streak in the series in league play.
That run could be in jeopardy, however, with offensively challenged and short-handed Seattle stumbling and Portland having won the most recent meeting in U.S. Open Cup play.
The Timbers look to bounce back from a lopsided loss and resume their rise in the standings Sunday night when they take on the Sounders for the second time in less than two weeks - a rematch of a chippy and eventful contest.
Portland (7-6-4) carried a four-game winning streak into Wednesday's contest at Los Angeles but was routed 5-0. The Timbers had allowed one goal in their previous four matches.
"With this one, we just throw it out and move on to Seattle," coach Caleb Porter said.
The Timbers will have to do so quickly. Seattle took the first meeting of the season 1-0 at home in MLS play on Clint Dempsey's goal in the 77th minute April 26 - its fourth straight win over Portland overall. The Timbers, however, rebounded June 16 at Starfire Stadium, where the Sounders had been 19-0-1, winning 3-1 in the U.S. Open Cup on goals from Diego Valeri, Rodney Wallace and Maximiliano Urruti.
The result and intensity of that game should only fuel the emotion for Sunday.
"Both teams are gonna have a chip on their shoulder," Porter said. "Because it's a rivalry, because of the Open Cup game, because we're coming off a loss, because they're coming off two losses. All those things are gonna make for, I think, a real edgy game."
It seems doubtful it could be much more edgy than the latest matchup, which the Sounders (9-6-2) finished with seven players. Defender Brad Evans was ejected in the 69th minute with his second yellow card. Forward Obafemi Martins, who tied the game at 1-all in the 79th minute, went down hard in the 85th and was wheeled away on a stretcher. By then, Seattle had used all three substitutions.
Seattle's Michael Azira was shown a straight red card in the 111th minute, and moments later, Clint Dempsey got one yellow and then, after grabbing a piece of paper from referee Daniel Radford, a red.
Dempsey earned a three-game suspension, minimum two-year ban from the U.S. Open Cup and a fine. Martins will miss up to six weeks with a groin injury, though central midfielder Gonzalo Pineda returned in Wednesday's 1-0 loss at Philadelphia and played the full game.
The defeat to the Timbers was the first of three in a row overall and fourth in five games for the Sounders, who have been blanked three times in that span and twice in a row. Seattle managed nine shots and two on goal against the Union.
"It's been a tough little stretch for us. We're all banding together, trying to get through it as best we can," midfielder Andy Rose said. "Obviously missing some key players but that means other players get opportunities and they need to prove what they can do.
" ... Obviously everything that happened in the U.S. Open Cup will be fresh in our memories, and we're going out there to get three points."
Dempsey had totaled six goals during a four-game scoring streak against Portland.
Both teams will be playing for the fourth time in 13 days, and the forecast calls for 90-degree temperatures at Providence Park.