PORTLAND — The Seattle Sounders were the beneficiaries of an own goal in the 76th minute, giving them a dramatic 1-0 Cascadia Cup rivalry victory over the Portland Timbers at Providence Park on Sunday evening.
The match was scoreless through the entire first half and looked like it could be headed to end that way. But the Sounders finally broke through after center back Kim Kee-hee made a charging run up the right flank and into the box, sending in a cross that was deflected into the net by Portland’s Julio Cascante to give the Sounders the 1-0 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish.
THREE TAKEAWAYS
DOMINANT D
Any match in the hostile confines of Providence Park will always require some defensive stands and the Sounders got plenty of those in Sunday’s match. Kim and fellow center back Chad Marshall were the obvious standout performers, but the Sounders also got a vintage effort from midfielder Ozzie Alonso and were able to do enough to hold the crucial clean sheet against a Portland team that perennially boasts one of the most dynamic counterattacking sides in MLS.
ARE YOU KIM-ING ME?
It went into the books as an own goal, but Seattle’s tally in this match will be undoubtedly remembered for Kim’s improbable jaunt down the right sideline that ended with him rocketing a cross in the direction of
Raúl Ruidíaz
. The ensuing bounce into net may have been fortunate, but it was also an instance of creating your own luck from one of the most unlikely Sounders to be involved in a scoring play.
Kim Kee-hee slides in the cross that would result in a Timbers own goal / Jane Gershovich
STILL STREAKING
The match moved Seattle’s recent unbeaten run to 10 straight matches and extended their club-record winning streak to seven, while also moving their record to 11-9-5 through 25 matches on the season. More importantly, it vaulted them to 38 points on the season, leapfrogging Portland in the Western Conference table and finishing the evening in fifth place. Seattle temporarily moved above the red line for the first time all season after their 5-0 blowout of the LA Galaxy at CenturyLink Field, but were bumped out again due to other results around the league. Now, the Rave Green officially have a playoff spot of their own going into their next match against Sporting Kansas City at CenturyLink next Saturday, Sept. 1 (1 p.m. PT; JOEtv, UniMás, Univision Deportes, Twitter, 950 KJR AM, El Rey 1360 AM).
SCORING SUMMARY
SEA - Julio Cascante (Own goal) 76'
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
POR - Diego Chara (Unsporting Behavior) 22'
POR - Sebastián Blanco (Unsporting Behavior) 65'
SEA - Brad Smith (Unsporting Behavior) 65'
POR - Dairon Asprilla (Unsporting Behavior) 87'
