Juan Mosquera’s first goal of the season gave the Portland Timbers a 1-0 win over the visiting Seattle Sounders on Saturday.
Portland (11-9-7, 40 points) and Seattle (11-9-7, 40 points) are tied in points, but the Timbers move ahead of their Cascadia Cup rivals in the standings due to a superior goal differential (Timbers +9, Sounders +5).
The Timbers are unbeaten (7-0-2) in their last nine home matches, and are 9-3-3 in their last 15 overall regular-season matches.
The Sounders lost for just the second time (7-2-1) in their last 10 matches. Saturday’s defeat came with the added sting of losing starting goalkeeper Stefan Frei to a potential concussion just eight minutes after the opening whistle.
Portland was also missing key personnel in Jonathan Rodriguez and Felipe Mora, who were serving suspensions. The Timbers entered Saturday’s play with the second-most goals in MLS, but Rodriguez and Mora combined for 26 of those 54 scores.
The situation called for some new attacking threats to emerge, and defender Mosquera provided the unexpected spark in the 55th minute. Mosquera had space outside the box, and opted to launch a shot toward the net. The ball took a deflection off the foot of Sounders defender Nouhou Tolo and curled into the net for an outstanding strike.
Maxime Crepeau stopped four shots for his first shutout of the season, and the Timbers’ fifth clean sheet as a team.
While Portland’s defense has been a question mark this season, the Timbers looked solid in keeping the Sounders in check, particularly as Seattle pressed for the equalizer. Both Kamal Miller and Mason Toye made impressive tackles in the second half to deny Jordan Morris scoring chances in front of the Timbers’ net.
Frei made a pair of big saves to deny both Antony and Toye in the fifth minute, but on the second save, Toye’s knee accidentally caught Frei in the face. Thomas stopped one of two shots on target during his 82-minute relief appearance.
The Timbers and Sounders are an even 15-15-9 in 39 all-time regular-season meetings in MLS.
–Field Level Media
