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The Portland Timbers beat Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field for the first time in the regular season while defender Larrys Mabiala played the role of an unlikely hero in a crazy second half that saw Seattle beat twice before conceding the winner
Samuel Armenteros also scored for the Timbers, who saw Diego Valeri help on all three goals in a vintage performance. Valeri's outstanding performance eclipsed that of his South American counterpart, Nicolas Lodeiro, who set both goals for Sounders.
Portland scored a tight first half, as both teams forced opposition guards to work. Bryan Meredith – replacing injured Stefan Frei in Seattle – made an impressive stop on Mabiala in the 22nd minute, while Jeff Attinella had to make a dive stop on Cristian Roldan just before the break.
The Mabiala match took up enough space in the 48th minute to set aside Valeri's corner for his second goal in as many games. Victor Royiguez succeeds a superb center of Lodeiro with a plunging head.
The two rivals are not over and Portland quickly takes the lead through Armenteros. , who ran on a Valeri ball, defeated his defender and finished at the bottom of the post. Chad Marshall responded in the 68th minute with the second goal of the game, a header from Lodeiro's head, but Mabiala and the Timbers had the last laugh as the big defender took advantage in another corner .
Goals
- 48 – POR – Larrys Mabiala | Watch
- 51 – – MER – Victor Rodriguez | Watch
- 57 – POR – Samuel Armenteros | Watch
- 68 – SEA – Chad Marshall | Watch
- 74 – POR – Larrys Mabiala | Watch
Three Things
- THE BIG PHOTO: The Seattle season seems more and more lost, since they are now 11 points from last place in the playoffs of the Conference Where is. It's the team that has made outstanding second-period races in 2016 and 2017, but now it's in a worse situation than it has been for the last two years. The Timbers, meanwhile, are up to fourth in the Western Conference and continue to be one of the best teams in the MLS. The men of Gio Savarese are now undefeated for 10 games (7-0-3) and will be happy to have won without Fanendo Adi, Liam Ridgewell and Sebastian Blanco being on the field.
- MOMENT OF THE GAME: ] In a game largely shaped by single-piece goals, Valeri went from the delusional ball to Armenteros for the Portland second that will prove to be the extra moment of the quality of play that the team needed to take the three points. FROM THE MATCH: Mabiala may have been the unlikely hero, but the likely hero gets the motM not. Diego Valeri established the three goals of Portland, with his assistant Armenteros the choice of the bench
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