Portland invited Seattle to play a defensive match, and then was frustrated when they got that. With Seattle refusing to get stretched out of position, the home team had no space to counter attack into and settled for long, speculative shots that found the crowd or a willing Sounder in the way. Seattle didn’t create a ton of chances, but the quality of these chances directly pressured Portland, and it’s no coincidence that this forced a fatal mistake. Own goal aside, this 1-0 Seattle win was nothing pretty, with few stellar plays or much flow to the match. Instead it was a tightly contested, hard fought, defensive struggle with few chances and plenty of animosity.
Seattle Sounders vs. Portland Timbers: Player ratings
