Seattle Sounders Defeat RSL, Timbers Humble LA Galaxy

The leading duo of the MLS Western Conference, Seattle Sounders and Portland Timbers, continued their run, keeping their respective positions at the top of the table. 

Seattle Better than Real Salt Lake, 2-1

Without Rui Ruidiaz available, some of the Sounders’ fans were a bit septic before this event. However, they couldn’t be with Nicolas Lodeiro in the lineup. The Uruguayan had two assists in Sounders’ victory over RSL. 

“His leadership as far as his work rate is concerned – he’s always consistently No. 1 as far as distance covered,” Seattle’s head coach Brian Schmetzer said following the game. “If you’re looking at the stats, you don’t see that. You don’t see how much work he does defensively.”

Lodeiro and Cristian Roland set up the first goal of the match. The two created a position for Jordan Morris, who didn’t have any troubles when executing in the 28th minute. 

Sixteen minutes into the second half, Lodeiro added another assist to his tally, this time the scorer was Yeimar Gomez Andrade.

RSL got a chance to get back, with Nouhou Tolo’s own goal in the 68th minute, and that is when the drama started for the home team. Until the end, we saw the Sounders managing to protect its goal and save three points. This was the third straight victory for Seattle, who has three points more than the second-placed team in the Western Conference, Portland Timbers. 

Portland Timbers Hummiliate Galaxy in LA, 3-6

Similar to Seattle, the Timbers also played without their best player, Sebastian Blanco. But when you have a group of players like they do, that is no big deal. In what many saw as the most interesting clash of the entire round, Portland demonstrated raw power, beating the LA Galaxy with 3-6. 

“We have a team of 10 to 15 attackers, whoever’s on the field or was on the bench, that knows where they’re supposed to be and are able to make plays. Tonight, we made six, and hopefully, we can keep scoring like that,” said Jeremy Ebobisse, who had two goals in this event.

One of those goals, his first, came after a free-kick, his first-ever in the Timbers’ uniform. It was the 23rd minute when Diego Valeri gave him the green light to surprise the Galaxy’s wall and give it a try. Eventually, it worked. 

It was 2-0 for the guests at that moment. The first goal came after Felipo Mora’s hit in the 14th minute. 

The Galaxy replied in the 34th minute, with Julian Araujo’s score, after a corner kick and a sloppy rection of the Timbers’ defensive players. 

Diego Valeri scored a goal, just two minutes since the latter half’s kick-off, but eight minutes afterward, Ethan Zubak again brought the hosts to a one-goal deficit. He and Cristian Pavon had a nice combination before Zubak netted. 

Then came Portland’s blitz with Felipe Mora and Larrys Mabiala delivering their hits in the span of three minutes. Yet, even after that Galaxy wouldn’t give up, and Pavon scored in the 70th minute.

Ebobisse put an end to this match with a goal ten minutes before the final whistle, inflicting the hosts one of the toughest defeats at home in their recent history.

It was the fifth straight defeat for them, while on the other side, Timbers have four consecutive victories.