Sounders FC falls 1-0 on the road to Cascadia rival Portland

Meeting for the third time this season, Sounders FC (6-3-3, 21 points) fell 1-0 to the Portland Timbers (6-4-3, 21 points) on Wednesday evening at Providence Park. Yimmi Chara scored the match’s lone goal as Portland jumped into a tie with Seattle for first place in the Western Conference at 21 points, with the Rave Green holding one match in hand. Brian Schmetzer’s club continues its road stint on Sunday, September 27 against the LA Galaxy at Dignity Health Sports Park (7:30 p.m. PT / JOEtv, Amazon Prime Video, 1090 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM).

MEDIA RESOURCES

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:https://sndrs.com/65rmf

PHOTOS – IMAGES FOR MEDIA USE:https://sndrs.com/5dyhh

VIDEO – BRIAN SCHMETZER POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE: https://sndrs.com/9nj3t

VIDEO – GUSTAV SVENSSON POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE:https://sndrs.com/kssdb

AUDIO – DOWNLOADABLE POST-MATCH SOUNDBYTES: http://sndrs.com/audio

Chara scored Portland’s eventual winner in the 13^th minute, slipping behind the Seattle defense on a through ball from Jeremy Ebobisse and slotting a shot past Stefan Frei. The result marked the Timbers’ second win in three meetings with Seattle this season, following a 3-1 Seattle win on August 23 at Providence Park and a 2-1 Portland win on September 6 at CenturyLink Field.

MATCH NOTES

• Tonight's contest at Providence Park marked the 110^th all-time matchup between Seattle and Portland (all competitions). In a storied rivalry dating back to 1975 in the North American Soccer League, Seattle is now 54-42-14 all-time against its Oregon rival.
• Since the rivalry advanced to MLS in 2011, Sounders FC is 12-10-6 in regular-season action against the Timbers, including a 5-7-3 record in the Rose City.
• Head Coach Brian Schmetzer made one change to the team that beat LAFC 3-0 on September 18, with Shane O’Neill coming into central defense for Xavier Arreaga.
• Following the league-mandated quarantine period after international duty with Sweden, Gustav Svensson made his return to Seattle’s midfield as a halftime substitute. Entering the game for Nouhou, Svensson played his first minutes for the Rave Green since August 30 in a 3-1 victory over LAFC.
• Tonight’s match marked the first time in league history that two sets of siblings played against each other in an MLS game. Alex Roldan entered the match as a 53^rd-minute substitute, pitting the brothers Roldan against Diego and Yimmi Chara, both of whom started the contest for Portland.
• After conceding a goal tonight, Seattle how has the second-best goal difference in MLS (+15), trailing only Columbus Crew SC (+17). 
• With tonight’s result, Seattle is now deadlocked with Portland atop the MLS Western Conference. Both clubs are on 21 points and are set to face each other once more in regular season action on October 24 at CenturyLink Field.
• In ordinary times, Sunday's match would count toward the Cascadia Cup standings, the annual trophy that is awarded to the best-performing club of the regular season in the rivalry between Sounders FC, Portland and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. The Cascadia Cup formally started in 2004 by the biggest supporters groups for each of the three clubs: Emerald City Supporters (Seattle), Timbers Army (Portland) and the Vancouver Southsiders (Whitecaps). The competition began when all three teams were members of the USL First Division and involves all three clubs, save for 2009 and 2010, when it was between the Timbers and Whitecaps due to Seattle moving to MLS. In 2011, all three sides were in the MLS for the first time and the competition has existed in top division since then. Earlier this year, the Cascadia Cup Council decided that 2020 matches not played in front of supporters won't count towards Cascadia Cup standings.

MATCH SUMMARY

Seattle Sounders FC 0 – Portland Timbers 1
Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Venue: Providence Park
Referee: Allen Chapman
Assistants: Kathryn Nesbitt, Jeff Hosking
Fourth Official: Farhad Dadkho
VAR: Ramy Touchan
Attendance: Closed Door
Weather: 61 degrees and cloudy

SCORING SUMMARY

POR – Yimmi Chara (Jeremy Ebobisse) 13’

MISCONDUCT SUMMARY

SEA – Nouhou (caution) 36’
POR – Pablo Bonilla (caution) 55’
SEA – Raúl Ruidíaz (caution) 56’
POR – Eryk Williamson (caution) 76’
SEA – Alex Roldan (caution) 90’
POR – Steve Clark (caution) 90’+6’

LINEUPS & STATS

Seattle Sounders FC - Stefan Frei; Kelvin Leerdam (Miguel Ibarra 84’), Yeimar Gómez Andrade, Shane O’Neill (Will Bruin 76’), Nouhou (Gustav Svensson HT); João Paulo, Cristian Roldan, Joevin Jones (Alex Roldan 53’), Nicolás Lodeiro, Jordan Morris; Raúl Ruidíaz

Substitutes not used: Stefan Cleveland, Xavier Arreaga, Jordy Delem, Joshua Atencio

Total shots: 19 (Morris/Ruidíaz, 4)
Shots on goal: 6 (Six players, 1)
Fouls: 8 (Lodeiro, 2)
Offside: 3 (Three players, 1)
Corner-kicks: 13 (Lodeiro, 11)
Saves: 1 (Frei, 1)

Portland Timbers – Steve Clark; Pablo Bonilla, Julio Cascante, Dario Zuparic, Jorge Villafana; Jeremy Ebobisse (Andy Polo 75’), Diego Chara, Eryk Williamson (Cristhian Paredes 86’), Yimmi Chara (Marvin Loria 75’); Diego Valeri (Larrys Mabiala 86’), Jaroslaw Niezgoda (Felipe Mora 71’)

Substitutes not used: Aljaz Ivacic, Larrys Mabiala, Marco Farfan, Andres Flores, Renzo Zambrano

Total shots: 9 (Three players, 2)
Shots on goal: 2  (Y. Chara/Paredes, 1)
Fouls: 11 (Williamson, 5)
Offside: 0
Corner-kicks: 4 (Valeri, 4)
Saves: 6 (Clark, 6)