Six Degrees: A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week
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Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images
1) Our terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week started last Wednesday, when we travelled to Mexico City full of hope, only to be rather forcibly bounced from the CONCACAF Champions League in a 3-1 loss to Club America.
Going into the first leg a couple weeks ago, I thought the Timbers had a chance to make some noise and win a game at home. The 1-1 draw was a little disappointing, but at least I could take some solace in the fact that we kept it close. As I said in last week’s column, we proved we could hang with the big boys.
In a classically heated Cascadia showdown at Providence Park, Seattle Sounders FC (3-0-1, 10 points) took down the Portland Timbers (1-3-0, 3 points), with Raúl Ruidíaz and Fredy Montero supplying two second-half goals. With the result, Seattle moves back atop both the Supporters’ Shield and MLS Western Conference standings with 10 total points from the club’s first four games. Today’s match at Providence marked the 112
th all-time meeting between Seattle and Portland, the most matchups between two professional sides in U.S. soccer history dating back to 1975. Seattle leads the series with a record of 55-42-15, including a 13-10-7 mark in MLS regular-season play.
Timbers Talk: Quotes after Sunday’s 2-1 loss to the Sounders
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Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images
It’s never fun to lose to a rival. It’s also not fun when that match drops you to three losses in MLS play. But that’s exactly where the Portland Timbers find themselves after their 2-1 loss to the Seattle Sounders. Here’s what Giovanni Savarese and company had to say about yesterday’s loss.
Portland Timbers head coach Giovanni Savarese
On Steve Clark’s return and Jeff Attinella’s injury.
“Not ready yet. Not ready Nick. Getting day-by-day healthier. [Aljaz] Ivacic as well. Unfortunately, the third goalkeeper goes down with [Jeff] Attinella and now Hunter [Sulte] came into the game and played very well. It was great to see him with the confidence he came in and didn’t disappoint. He was there to make sure he supported us and he did a fantastic job in his second match. But little-by-little we hope that we can have now the goalkeepers healthy. Now we h
Portland Timbers crash in chaotic loss to Seattle Sounders as Diego Valeri misses the same PK twice
Updated May 10, 2021;
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After 112 meetings between the Timbers and the Seattle Sounders, it seems it’d be hard for these rivalry matches to still surprise and confound. But Sunday’s match, a 2-1 Timbers loss after a series of bizarre twists and turns, was certainly memorable – even if Timbers fans would rather forget.
What started as a cagey, close affair at Providence Park ripped wide open in the second half after chaotic back-and-forth penalties, where Diego Valeri missed his scoring chance twice, and a worrisome injury to goalkeeper Jeff Attinella, which forced the Timbers to go four spots down the depth chart to fill the spot.
Frei has 1,000 career saves, a milestone only eight other MLS goalkeepers have reached.
“It wasn’t the prettiest game, it wasn’t as much possession as we wanted in an ideal situation,” Frei said. “This is a difficult place to come and win, and sometimes it doesn’t have to be pretty to be effective.”
Portland’s Bill Tuiloma denied Frei the shutout with a goal in stoppage time.
It was the 112th meeting between the teams since 1975, when both were part of the North American Soccer League. The Sounders have a 13-10-4 advantage in the MLS era.
Portland (1-3-0) is in the midst of a tough stretch, playing five matches in 15 days. The Timbers are coming off of a 3-1 loss to Club America Wednesday in Mexico City, which eliminated the team in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.