Dempsey makes difference again as Sounders nip Timbers
Clint Dempsey has had his share of success against many MLS teams, but he has become particular poison to the Portland Timbers.
Dempsey, whose nickname is Deuce, scored the lone goal Sunday to give the Sounders a 1-0 win over their archrivals at CenturyLink Field.
It was the fourth consecutive game that he has scored against the Timbers. It was his sixth goal overall in six games against Portland, the most by anyone since the series shifted to Major League Soccer.
“It’s always good to score against your rivals,” Dempsey said. “I try to score every game. Anytime you can score goals, they always feel good; but it’s a little more special when you can score one against your rivals — and especially a game winner.”
The match stayed scoreless for 76 minutes as the Timbers bunkered down, surprising the Sounders with their conservative approach. Seattle still managed several good chances in the first half — especially from Obafemi Martins and Marco Pappa — but none found the net.
“I expected them to try to get forward a little bit, to be more direct,” coach Sigi Schmid said. “So I was a little bit surprised that they were so conservative at the beginning of the game, and so content to play deep. But obviously that was their game plan, and they upped the tempo in the second half.”
The breakthrough came in the 77th minute, when midfielder Andy Rose put a shot on goal just seconds after subbing in. Portland goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey blocked the shot but the ball trickled behind him, and Dempsey swooped in and touched it across the line.
“I was surprised that the ball was still fumbling around, but I was happy that it was,” Dempsey said. “I was able to sneak in and get a goal.”
Portland’s attack became more dangerous after goals leader Fanendo Adi subbed on in the 74th minute. His best chance came with a shot off the crossbar in the 81st minute.
The Timbers ended up outshooting Seattle, 11-10, although the Sounders put more on target, 3-2.
Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei got his fourth shutout. Veteran Zach Scott — whose history in the rivalry dates to its USL days — got his second start of the season in place of Chad Marshall, who was serving a one-game suspension. The Sounders haven’t been scored upon in those two games.
The final whistle moved the Sounders to 4-2-1 on the season and 1-0 in the Cascadia Cup competition. Portland fell to 2-3-3 in MLS play and 0-2 in the Cup.
The season-high crowd of 41,451 moved the Sounders past Orlando City and into the league lead with an average home attendance of 40,067.
Next, the Sounders head out for three consecutive road games. They will start Sunday with their first visit to Yankee Stadium and New York City FC before continuing on to Columbus and Vancouver. Their next home match is May 23 against Sporting Kansas City.
“We’ve always shown ourselves to be a good road team, so we’re not afraid to go on the road,” Schmid said. “We just want to keep going at this stage. We’ve won three of our last four, we want to keep that going. We’ve got 13 points now in seven games, so we’re happy with that and we want to come back from these three road games with as many as possible.”
This story was originally published April 26, 2015 at 9:08 PM.