Late goal allows Timbers to salvage 1-1 draw with Sounders
SEATTLE (AP) — Eddie Johnson scored yet again against Seattle's fiercest rival. Obafemi Martins traveled halfway across the world to make his Seattle debut and received a huge ovation when he finally stepped on the field.
All was right for the Sounders, until they forgot to defend Portland's Rodney Wallace cutting wide open through the penalty box.
"I got in the right spot, the ball came and I finished," Wallace said. "It's a huge win for everybody involved with the Portland Timbers. ... A point coming back means a lot."
Wallace came open in the box and headed in the tying goal at the beginning of second-half stoppage time, and the Timbers came out of Seattle with a 1-1 draw against the rival Sounders on Saturday night.
Johnson's first-half goal had given Seattle an advantage it held until Wallace scored right at the end of the 90 minutes as stoppage time was beginning.
Seattle failed to clear the ball from danger and Andrew Jean-Baptiste's centering pass found Wallace completely uncovered. Seattle goalkeeper Michael Gspurning had no chance at stopping the perfectly placed header.
"The ball came at the right time and I was in the right spot for it," Wallace said.
The matchup of the Cascadia foes was the centerpiece of what Major League Soccer dubbed "Rivalry Week."
And it was Portland getting an important draw in the competition between the Sounders, Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps for the Cascadia Cup. It was a crucial point to salvage for Portland after getting just one point out of two home matches to begin the regular season.
"Not only did we get a point, but they lost two points at the end of the game," Portland coach Caleb Porter said. "That gives us a lot of belief moving forward."
For most of the night, Seattle was in place for a second important victory this week.
Johnson's goal in the 13th minute was his second this week after he scored the series winner in Seattle's 3-2 aggregate victory over Tigres in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.
It was one of the easier goals Johnson has scored in his time with Seattle, mostly because the pass from Steve Zakuani was perfect. Zakuani collected a sloppy midfield turnover from Diego Chara and quickly raced toward the Portland net.
His left-footed pass was perfectly placed out of the reach of Portland goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts and directly onto the foot of Johnson, who was making a late run behind the defense.
Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said after the game that Johnson would be called in to join the U.S. national team for its World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica next week.
But his goal, and the debut of Martins, the Sounders new designated player, was overshadowed by the late defensive breakdown that allowed Wallace to score his first goal of the season.
Portland has two draws in three matches played in Seattle since the Timbers joined the MLS in 2011.
"You have to close games out. It hurts. It would be a much better feeling waking up tomorrow with three points," Zakuani said.
Seattle was trying to take the lead in the Cascadia Cup competition that Portland won a year ago.
As if Seattle needed any reminders, the large contingent of Timbers fans that made the three-hour trip up Interstate 5 on Saturday they brought with them a banner reading "Cascadia Champions 2012."
Portland easily could have come out of Seattle with a victory if referee Kevin Stott had awarded a penalty kick midway through the first half. Portland's Ryan Johnson was taken down from behind by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado in the penalty box. Although Hurtado got some of the ball, he also took down Johnson.
The no-call and Diego Valeri's free kick early in the second half that rattled the crossbar from 25 yards turned out to be the best of the Timbers' scoring chances until Wallace's stunning goal.
Martins made his debut in the 70th minute. Martins was acquired from Spanish club Levante and only arrived in Seattle on Friday evening.
He was greeted with a huge ovation from the 40,150 in attendance and nearly helped give Seattle a 2-0 lead, but his pass for Johnson late in the second half was just out of reach. That missed connection proved important when Wallace scored a few minutes later.
Martins was scheduled to leave Sunday to join the Nigerian national team in a World Cup qualifier against Kenya next Saturday.
Martins said Seattle general manager Adrian Hanauer told him not to rush to Seattle, but the forward wanted to meet his new club before he headed off for national team duty.
"I think it's better to come now and see the place. I'm going to the national team now, and it's not going to be new to me anymore," Martins said.
All was right for the Sounders, until they forgot to defend Portland's Rodney Wallace cutting wide open through the penalty box.
"I got in the right spot, the ball came and I finished," Wallace said. "It's a huge win for everybody involved with the Portland Timbers. ... A point coming back means a lot."
Wallace came open in the box and headed in the tying goal at the beginning of second-half stoppage time, and the Timbers came out of Seattle with a 1-1 draw against the rival Sounders on Saturday night.
Johnson's first-half goal had given Seattle an advantage it held until Wallace scored right at the end of the 90 minutes as stoppage time was beginning.
Seattle failed to clear the ball from danger and Andrew Jean-Baptiste's centering pass found Wallace completely uncovered. Seattle goalkeeper Michael Gspurning had no chance at stopping the perfectly placed header.
"The ball came at the right time and I was in the right spot for it," Wallace said.
The matchup of the Cascadia foes was the centerpiece of what Major League Soccer dubbed "Rivalry Week."
And it was Portland getting an important draw in the competition between the Sounders, Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps for the Cascadia Cup. It was a crucial point to salvage for Portland after getting just one point out of two home matches to begin the regular season.
"Not only did we get a point, but they lost two points at the end of the game," Portland coach Caleb Porter said. "That gives us a lot of belief moving forward."
For most of the night, Seattle was in place for a second important victory this week.
Johnson's goal in the 13th minute was his second this week after he scored the series winner in Seattle's 3-2 aggregate victory over Tigres in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions League.
It was one of the easier goals Johnson has scored in his time with Seattle, mostly because the pass from Steve Zakuani was perfect. Zakuani collected a sloppy midfield turnover from Diego Chara and quickly raced toward the Portland net.
His left-footed pass was perfectly placed out of the reach of Portland goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts and directly onto the foot of Johnson, who was making a late run behind the defense.
Seattle coach Sigi Schmid said after the game that Johnson would be called in to join the U.S. national team for its World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica next week.
But his goal, and the debut of Martins, the Sounders new designated player, was overshadowed by the late defensive breakdown that allowed Wallace to score his first goal of the season.
Portland has two draws in three matches played in Seattle since the Timbers joined the MLS in 2011.
"You have to close games out. It hurts. It would be a much better feeling waking up tomorrow with three points," Zakuani said.
Seattle was trying to take the lead in the Cascadia Cup competition that Portland won a year ago.
As if Seattle needed any reminders, the large contingent of Timbers fans that made the three-hour trip up Interstate 5 on Saturday they brought with them a banner reading "Cascadia Champions 2012."
Portland easily could have come out of Seattle with a victory if referee Kevin Stott had awarded a penalty kick midway through the first half. Portland's Ryan Johnson was taken down from behind by Jhon Kennedy Hurtado in the penalty box. Although Hurtado got some of the ball, he also took down Johnson.
The no-call and Diego Valeri's free kick early in the second half that rattled the crossbar from 25 yards turned out to be the best of the Timbers' scoring chances until Wallace's stunning goal.
Martins made his debut in the 70th minute. Martins was acquired from Spanish club Levante and only arrived in Seattle on Friday evening.
He was greeted with a huge ovation from the 40,150 in attendance and nearly helped give Seattle a 2-0 lead, but his pass for Johnson late in the second half was just out of reach. That missed connection proved important when Wallace scored a few minutes later.
Martins was scheduled to leave Sunday to join the Nigerian national team in a World Cup qualifier against Kenya next Saturday.
Martins said Seattle general manager Adrian Hanauer told him not to rush to Seattle, but the forward wanted to meet his new club before he headed off for national team duty.
"I think it's better to come now and see the place. I'm going to the national team now, and it's not going to be new to me anymore," Martins said.
Might loss a few fans to the NFL to rule changes but to say soccer will fill that gap over time is highly unlikely, more schools are getting into lacrosse because of the action pace and skill level since anyone can kick and chase a ball soccer will always be a sport anyone can play with some skill..
@Windowseat most lacrosse players are guys who couldn't make the baseball team.......sorry, but its a sport filled with second class athletes.....
I've tried watching soccer and I just can't get into it. It has the action and movement of hockey but less skill that I can see. I understand why so many people are into it, but it just isn't for me.
And if the NHL can fix tie games, why can't soccer? I'm a North American and it just isn't a game until somebody goes home crying...
Soccer will never be huge in America BECAUSE WE SUCK AT IT!!!!!!!!!
@SandyBeach wait ten years and say that...as the NFL continues to make small rule changes to protect the safety of the players the NFL's popularity will slowly decline. At the the same time as more and more high schools find that it is much much cheaper to outfit a soccer team than a football team, in equipment costs and liability, I think you will see soccers popularity slowly rise. 3 gold medals for our womens national team? I wouldn't say we suck...
@madminer15and---actually----other countries have gained on the usa as far as the womens game has gone. we used to dominate----not so much any more.
@madminer15WOMENS soccer is NOTHING like mens on the national level.....it cant even be debated........
@madminer15 @SandyBeach actually the influx of immigrants has helped the game in the usa more than the play of locals....womens team????? thats a clueless staement---NO country has been playing or excelling at womens soccer....it was an unplayed sport until recently(at least at the national level)
@SandyBeach @madminer15 Ya you're right because when I hear the term soccer mom I think of a mexican woman.
1-1 draw.
This is the reason why soccer will never be huge in America. Â Competitive sports should not end in ties. Â BTW, I hate the NFL overtime rules for this very reason.
@Sheridan ????? How about the EPL being one of the last leagues that actually rewards the regular season....Been like 2 ties in the NFL over 10 yrs....not like its an issue.....
@SandyBeach @Sheridan Yes, and both ties had playoff consequences for the teams involved. And I likewise hate the OT rules for the season.Â
The NFL OT rules should run like this: If there is a tie after regulation, the visiting team kicks off to the home team. at the beginning of the OT period. Field goals no longer count. First team to score wins. Period. Simple. Done.
For soccer and hockey, play until somebody scores, first team to score wins. Alternately, you could just say that a tie game equals a loss for both teams. That'll clean up the statistics pretty quickly.
@svensson @SandyBeach the nflpa ---let alone the league----would never go for it......again, its why it isnt done.....in pro OR college or ANY other football league for that matter.
@SandyBeach @svensson You betcha. Play till somebody wins.
@svensson lmao----what if nobody scores a touch????? you gonna have these guys play 8 quarters???????????????? it could happen.....its why they DONT do it that way.........
What a terribly orchestrated performance by the Sounders tonight. Pathetic passing. A Welcome Mat laid out for the Timbers at mid-field for the entirel match. Kevin Stott is probably the WORST referee in the League. (save Salazar).
Sigi needs to take Mario Martinez, Sammy Ochoa, and Marc Burch to the woodshed. They need to leave the locker room with their heads down and their tails between their legs. Ridiculous!