The Seattle Sounders fell to the Portland Timbers 2-1 at Providence Park on Saturday night. Kalani Kossa-Rienzi opened the scoring for the Rave Green before Kevin Kelsey and Brandon Bye tallied for the home side.
The Timbers put the pressure on early, when Cole Bassett earned a corner kick for the Portland side within the first minute of the match. The opening opportunity was quickly put to a halt, however, after Paul Arriola was fouled by Kelsy as the ball floated into the box.
In the 15th minute, Kelsey nearly got one when Bye whipped the ball in from the right flank, but Stuart Hawkins was able to get just enough of his head on it to redirect the ball out for a corner.
One minute later, Andrew Thomas made a great save when he came off his line and punched the corner kick away to prevent the potential goal scoring opportunity for the home side.
The Sounders got on the scoresheet first when a misclearance from Kamal Miller found Kossa-Rienzi at the top of the box, where the defender drove the ball first-time to the lower right corner of the goal in the 27th minute.
In the 32nd minute, Nouhou was inches away from extending the lead to two when his header from 19 yards out looked as if it was going into the right top bin. A diving save from James Pantemis tipped the ball away from goal, leading to a corner instead.
In the 36th minute, the Timbers were close to leveling the score when Jimer Fory drove a ball from the left flank to Ariel Lassiter who was open near the far post. His shot attempt was mishit, however, as he stubbed the turf.
The Timbers’ equalizer came five minutes later when Kristoffer Velde chipped a cross toward the far post of the goal where Kelsey utilized his knee midair to push the ball into the net.
In the final moments of first half stoppage time, Albert Rusnák had a chance to steal one to make it 2-1 when Nouhou lofted the ball toward the far post for the wide open midfielder. In an attempt to strike the ball with the outside of his foot, the ball hit the side netting.
In the 49th minute, Jesús Ferreira almost grabbed the second lead of the night for the Sounders when Kossa-Rienzi found the forward near the six yard box. Ferreira executed a perfect volley toward the net, but Pantemis punched it away just before it crossed the goal line.
Bassett got an opportunity when David Da Costa laid the ball back to the forward to finish from the top of the eighteen in the 58th minute. Unable to keep the effort down, he skied his shot over the crossbar.
Nouhou had a chance in the 64th minute when a header clearance from the Timbers found the wide open defender just outside the box. His powerful strike just missed the goal, going wide right.
On the opposite side of the pitch, Nouhou made an incredible lockdown defensive play in the 78th minute, when Miller looked to cut in for a shot from inside the box. The veteran Sounder stayed patient, refusing to bite before stepping in to win the ball.
The Timbers tallied their second with less than 10 minutes left of regular time when Da Costa found Bye at the top of the box. The right back struck the ball toward the bottom left corner of the net to solidify the late lead and the eventual win for the Portland Timbers.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Alex Roldan returns
Alex Roldan has been out since May 13 with a hip injury. The defender made his return to the pitch on Saturday night as a second half substitute.
Halfway through Cascadia Cup
Following tonight's match against the Timbers, the Sounders have two Cascadia Cup matches remaining, both against the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Leagues Cup next
The Sounders have a quick turnaround as they look ahead to their midweek, Leagues Cup opener against Toluca FC at Nemesio DÃez Stadium.
