Timbers and Sounders drew 1-1 in a fast paced, entertaining game. Sounders looked the better side in the first half, though the score sheet remained empty. The second half remained about the same until Eddie Johnson and Donovan Ricketts collided. He took quite a blow to the shoulder and the neck, the same shoulder he injured throwing the ball against Colorado, which he was holding after a previous collision earlier in this game.
Ricketts eventually was up and able, but came out shortly after because of the shoulder issue. Bendik has been the primary #2 for whatever reason this year, so it fell to him. But unluckily for him, Montero hit an amazing strike on the volley from the edge of the box off a Gspurning long kick. Mosquera mistimed his jump in his attempt to head it away after the first bounce, giving Fredy the little bit of space he needed.
From that point on, Portland picked up the intensity and started to exert a greater influence on the match. Wallace and Zizzo started winning corners, and Jewsbury started taking them again. It's never been explained why after so much success last year he wasn't taking them this year. Some of the change I understand, having a left footed player kicking from the right corner so the ball swings in towards the goal instead of away from it. I also assumed that Songo'o or Alhassan had shown themselves to be superior in practice. Jack is a bigger body to have in the box so the switched seemed logical. But even the announcer on television noticed the improved degree of danger when Jack started taking the set pieces again. Oh yea, I'm talking about this because Jack pinged Wallace in the forehead on a corner, which slipped between Gspurning and Leo Gonzalez and into the net. Gonzalez almost cleared it off the line but actually drilled it into the inside-netting. He was in the way of Gpurning, who may have been able to slap it out of the goal, but he hit Leo instead.
The game really opened up at that point, with chances flying on both ends. Chara was hacked down in the 6 yard box brutally, but the idiot Salazar gave the Sounders a goal kick instead of awarding a PK. Dike rattled the post with a rocket that rolled all the way back across the goal before getting cleared. And Horst stopped Montero-Wonder-Strike-Pt.2, toe-poking the ball away a half-second before it was blasted into the net. The game ended after six minutes of stoppage time after Nagbe picked Alonso's pocket.
As for my lineup and substitution predictions, Timbers went with exactly the same lineup as I predicted but injuries marred the result. Ricketts gave way for Bendik as I mentioned, and Mwanga was indeed the first choice substitution but he came in for Songo'o after he came up lame. This moved Nagbe to the left for Songo'o and Danny slotted in behind Dike, transforming the shape into more of a 4-4-1-1 diamond, similar to Seattle. Gavin used his final sub to take out the hard-running Zizzo for Alhassan, a move which should have been made first and 20 minutes sooner, as Kalif immediately brightened up the field with his fresh legs, tight ball control, and passing vision. He set up a Mwanga strike which should at least have been put on frame, Danny had more than enough time and space to hit with composure.
Sigi decided to rest Tiffert and Rosales, with Rose starting at the tip of the diamond and Brad Evans on the right. Adam Johansson started at right back over Zach Scott, which was a shrewd move by Schmid. Gonzalez burned Kimura all night long from the left as he overlapped with Zakuani, who made his fair share of Kosuke kabob. With not much threat of offense coming down the Portland left flank, as Songo'o likes to tuck inside (as we witnessed during the first half when he forced Gspurning into a layout save) and with Wallace in as Steven Smith was out on accumulation, it was a great switch to put the weaker defender/stronger attacker at the right back spot. Seattle only used two subs, both after Montero put them ahead but before Portland scored. Sigi started by bringing in Mario Martinez for Zakuani - a like for like switch to get fresh legs on the field. Then he brought on Marc Burch for Brad Evans, a defensive switch, which would have given them two holding midfielders, with Andy Rose moving out wide right. But Wallace scored and killed his perfectly crafted tactical adjustment.
This leaves the Cascadia Cup still up for grabs with three total fixtures remaining. Portland leads the pack with 8 points, Seattle has 5 points, and Vancouver is stuck with just two points but a game in hand. The Whitecaps can give Portland a hand by beating the Sounders in Vancouver at the end of the month, which would leave Portland needing only a single point from the remaining two games to secure the cup. However, if Sounders beat the Caps away, Portland need only draw at Seattle to secure the cup. A loss to Seattle but a win in Vancouver would push things to the second tiebreaker: head-to-head goal differential, with head-to-head goals scored as the third and then total differential and total goals after that. That scenario would depend on how badly the hypothetical loss was to Seattle; if it was a one-goal decision then the tiebreaker would fall to how badly each team beats up the Whitecaps in BC Place.
All in all, a great game. But it would have been much greater if Ricardo Salazar didn't ignore a penalty. I quote the Army, "Referee, get off your knees, you're blowing the game!"
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