The Seattle Sounders have had as good of a season against the Portland Timbers as they could have possibly hoped for. After drawing away to Portland earlier in the season, then beating them in both their home league game and U.S. Open Cup, the Sounders have defeated the Timbers 4-2 at Providence Park.
There was plenty of action from the start, with both teams hitting the woodwork inside the first 15 minutes. Diego Valeri nearly got a lucky break off a free kick into the wall, but his shot eventually hit the crossbar and bounced away harmlessly. Not long afterward, Clint Dempsey nearly scored a beautiful opener when he hit the inside of the post from 12 yards.
Seattle drew first blood in the 18th minute through Obafemi Martins, but the setup was prettier than the finish. Brad Evans both started the move and finished it off, receiving a gorgeous nutmeg pass from DeAndre Yedlin before surging down the right flank, then squaring for Martins to tap into the back of the net.
The rest of the first half continued to belong to the Sounders, who would go into the locker room up by two goals. Dempsey should have scored in the 21st minute, but blazed a shot from close range over the crossbar. He redeemed himself 13 minutes later, though, and in spectacular fashion. Martins found him at the end of an 80-yard run during the counter, and Dempsey hit a perfect chipped finish past Donovan Ricketts.
Portland got off to a strong start in the first half and almost pulled one back in the 53rd minute, with Will Johnson forcing Stefan Frei into an excellent save. They never turned their positive play into an early goal, though, and Seattle eventually went up by three.
Chad Barrett came into the game as a substitute and didn't take long to score. He wasn't closed down in the box after picking up a pass from Dempsey, and had all the time in the world to line up his shot and score his seventh goal of the year in MLS.
The Timbers were able to make things interesting three minutes later through two substitutes. Rodney Wallace found Fanendo Adi for an excellent volleyed finish from 6 yards, but Portland were only in the game for three minutes after that.
Martins answered by scoring one of his best goals of the season on a brilliant individual run. He stumbled, but powered through an individual run that beat a half-dozen Timbers defenders before he hit a shot past Ricketts from 12 yards, recording a potential goal of the week candidate.
Adi scored his second of the game in stoppage time with a poacher's effort, set up by fellow sub and former Sounder Steve Zakuani, but his goals ultimately made no difference in the match.
With this convincing and dominating win, Seattle have gone top of the Western Conference and Supporters' Shield race. It's tough to see them dropping out of contention on the back of this.
Sounders: Frei, Gonzalez, Marshall, Scott, Yedlin, Pappa (Barrett 63'), Pineda, Alonso, Evans (Neagle 78'), Dempsey (Rose 80'), Martins
Goals: Martins (18', 76'), Dempsey (34'), Barrett (70')
Timbers: Ricketts, Harrington, Ridgewell, Paparatto, O'Rourke, Chara, Johnson, Nagbe (Zakuani 80'), Fernandez (Wallace 67'), Valeri, Urruti (Adi 71')
Goals: Adi (73', 90')