Clint Dempsey scores a pair for Sounders in epic 3-1 victory over rival Timbers

In one of the more hotly anticipated Cascadia Cup matchups of the season, the Sounders fielded the same lineup they’ve had for the last two matches – both of which were wins. The attacking trio of Clint Dempsey, Jordan Morris and new signee Nicolas Lodeiro faced perhaps its most difficult test yet since the latter’s revolutionary arrival to the club. The rival Timbers came to town with a fairly strong lineup, though they did leave arguably their best striker, Fanendo Adi, on the bench. It turned out to be part of Portland’s undoing, as the Sounders thrashed the Timbers 3-1 in one of the greatest Cascadia matches of the season.

Match stats

The Sounders, boosted by an extremely large and boisterous home crowd, were fast and furious with their attack as soon as the match kicked off. A few potentially strong attacks were foisted early, but Morris nearly took advantage of poor defending about 10 minutes into play; his shot ended up just wide of goal. Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson parried away an excellent Osvaldo Alonso shot, giving the Sounders a corner that they failed to convert.

The Timbers controlled the next chunk of time with their dangerous counter-attack, coming close – very close – a number of times. The Sounders barely managed to stop a couple of those chances, with Brad Evans making a last-ditch slide tackle to keep the ball out of the net at one point. At the other end, Lodeiro had a point-blank header turned away by Gleeson after a great attacking move by Seattle. A weird few minutes in Portland’s final third led to two yellow cards for Seattle – one for Andreas Ivanschitz, apparently for some tussling during a corner kick, and one for Joevin Jones on a supposed dive near the edge of the box. That was probably the most exciting half I can imagine without any actual goals scored – and for that matter, shots on target. The teams went into halftime 0-0.

The second half began with a similar fervor to the first, with Seattle going on a blistering run of attacks with a couple of excellent chances that didn’t pan out.

Dempsey missed a golden opportunity after Morris beat a defender into the box, as well as a shot after a corner kick that went over the bar. Portland had a few good counter-attacks again but was unable to find a good final ball on any of them. Things changed in the 61st minute when Cristian Roldan was brought down in the box, earning a penalty kick for Seattle. Dempsey converted the subsequent kick after missing one last week against Real Salt Lake, making it 1-0.

Portland responded with some vicious attacks but Sounders goalie Stefan Frei squelched two glorious opportunities for the Timbers. Morris was electric in the attacking third, somehow keeping the ball through tackle after tackle to earn a free kick and create a chance for Dempsey that was tackled away. Despite a few awkward misses, Dempsey was again the hero as he fired in his second goal of the night from just outside the box to make it 2-0 in the 80th minute.

Just minutes after that goal, Roldan found the net after Evans flicked in a Lodeiro corner. The Timbers managed to get a consolation goal through Adi in stoppage time, but the Sounders held on for an epic victory over their rivals.

Man of the match: This was a team victory, but Dempsey’s two goals mean that his influence was essential to this one.

Turning point: There was an edge to the match for nearly the entire 90 minutes, and only after Roldan’s goal did it feel like the Sounders had clinched the win.

One reason to worry: Two more matches in seven days could prevent a similar win in Portland next Sunday.

One reason to relax: The Sounders are three points closer to Portland and the playoff spots, with two games in hand.

Spenser Davis also covers the Sounders for Sounder at Heart.