The Seattle Sounders started this match looking like they had played in Houston at midweek and were missing their highest-paid player. The Portland Timbers, like Seattle, are in "must-win-all-home-games" mode if they are to make the playoffs, and the Sounders just weren’t able to match that energy or sharpness in the hostile confines of Providence Park. However, you would not expect a Brian-Schmetzer-coached Sounders squad to wither so dramatically in Portland territory. But they did, giving up a dismal 4 goals in 44 minutes.
The good news is that the response was strong and immediate after what we can only imagine were some choice words from coach Schmetzer at halftime ("very succinct," he says).