Portland Timbers 0, Seattle Sounders FC 1 | 2018 MLS Match Recap

A run and cross from Kim Kee-hee led to Portland Timbers defender Julio Cascante’s own goal, and the Seattle Sounders ran their win streak to a club-record seven in a row.

The goal happened in the 76th minute, the Costa Rica international barely tapping in the ball past goalkeeper Jeff Attinella as he tried to clear Kim’s cross. The struggling Timbers couldn’t recover and were unable to equalize en route to losing their fourth straight match.

Seattle jumped past Portland into a tie for fifth place in the Western Conference, while Portland fell to seventh. It was the first win for Seattle in the Rose City since Aug. 2014.

The Timbers outshot the Sounders 14-2 in the first half and forced a pair of Stefan Frei saves before halftime. But the Sounders adjusted in the second half and made the most of their best opportunity of the night.

Goals

• 76′ – SEA – Julio Cascante (OG) | WATCH

Three Things

• THE BIG PICTURE: The Sounders weren’t the better team for much of the match, but they found a way by taking advantage of bad marking and creating the own goal. Unbeaten in 10 straight games, the Sounders seem to have taken over as the team to be feared in the West. Two tough ones await with Sporting Kansas City and Vancouver, but the Sounders’ confidence is through the roof. They have to be concerned in Portland, where the Timbers were flying high on a franchise-record unbeaten streak until two weeks ago, when a loss to Vancouver began a downward spiral that’s now turned into a four-game losing streak. At least the Timbers weren’t blown out as they have been the past two games, but this loss hurts more as it came to their biggest rivals and has them looking up at the Sounders instead of down.
• MOMENT OF THE MATCH: Kee-hee’s run, the ball sent toward goal and Cascante’s uh-oh moment.
  

  That’ll do! 👌

  SEA 1 | POR 0#PORvSEA pic.twitter.com/vbQld4yFJy

  — Seattle Sounders FC (@SoundersFC) August 27, 2018

• MAN OF THE MATCH: In a physical game with the Timbers outshooting Seattle 22-6, the Sounders’ defenders deserve a lot of credit. Kim Kee-hee set up the winning goal, and had five clearances.

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