Sounders FC advance to US Open Cup quarterfinals with 2-1 win over Portland Timbers

July 1, 9:44 PMSeattle Soccer ExaminerDavid Falk

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Ben Fox, of Bellingham, Wash., cheers with the rest of the Emerald City Supporters outside an entrance as fans enter PGE Park Wednesday, July 1, 2009, in Portland, Ore., for the Portland Timbers' U.S. Open Cup soccer game against the Seattle Sounders. (AP Photo/Olivia Bucks)

Seattle Sounders FC scored a 2-1 victory over the Portland Timbers tonight in Oregon to advance to the quarterfinals of the United States Open Cup. The Sounders will host the Kansas City Wizards next Tuesday night July 7th at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila in the next round.

It was a great start to the match for the Sounders as Roger Levesque headed home a sharp cross from Sanna Nyassi with just over a minute gone. It was 2-0 Sounders in the 26th minute when Stephen King stepped into a ball at the top of the box and slammed a shot to the far corner.

Portland drew to within 2-1 just before halftime.Mandjou Keita was at the right spot to put a roller past Kasey Keller after a brief endline scramble.

The crowd of over 16,000 at PGE Park watched a scoreless second half with a few chances on both sides.

Seattle Times: Sounders FC cuts down Portland

Seattle P-I: Sounders beat old rival Timbers in US Open Cup

Flickr.com: Sounders-Timbers photos

SoundersFC.com: Sounders FC chop down Timbers

The Sounders showed they were the better, higher level club on the night and the final score could have certainly had a wider margin of victory. Portland did well to dodge several close calls and made the final score respectable though they rarely looked like scoring in the second half.

The Sounders wore their primary rave green colors and the Timbers wore an all black kit.

The announcing team of Peter Fewing (Seattle) and Andy McNamara were tolerable, but for most of the match, which was a Timbers production and suffered quality because of it, I had the sound off. When the TV sound was on you could hear the Seattle traveling faithful in full voice behind the Sounders.

There were numerous shots of the beleagured, mostly silent Timbers Army provided courtesy of the Portlandcentric coverage. Either the TA needs some caffiene or the cameras caught them inbetween cheers. At the end FSN had time to kill and actually talked with Sounders Roger Levesque and Kasey Keller.

Broadcast complaints aside, at least the Timbers and FSN thought enough to put the match on TV, so thanks for that.

Keller especially enjoyed the evening in his return to the city he played his college soccer so many years ago.

McNamara and Fewing both pimped the future of the Seattle-Portland rivalry several times, looking forward to 2011 when Portland and Vancouver catch up to Seattle in Major League Soccer.

It was Portland's first home loss since 2008.

Beshi caught these Sounders FC supporters images on the broadcast.

Photos from SoundersFC.com

Celebrating Roger Levesque's jolting strike.

Seattle Sounders FC 2, Portland Timbers 1

July 1, 2009 – PGE Park, Portland, OR

 

Scoring Summary:

SEA:  Levesque (Nyassi, King) 1’?

SEA:  King (Jaqua) 27’

POR:  Keita (Hayes) 43’

 

Seattle Sounders FC: Kasey Keller, James Riley, Jhon Kennedy Hurtado, Patrick Ianni, Nathan Sturgis, Sanna Nyassi (Jarrod Smith 79’), Peter Vagenas, Stephen King, Roger Levesque (Tyson Wahl 92+), Sebastien Le Toux (Fredy Montero 66’), Nate Jaqua

 

Substitutes not used: Terry Boss, Evan Brown, Lamar Neagle

 

TOTAL SHOTS: 14 (Sanna Nyassi 5); FOULS: 9 (Nyassi 3); OFFSIDES: 1; CORNER KICKS: 5; SAVES: 3 (Kasey Keller 3)

 

Portland Timbers: Steve Cronin, David Hayes, Cameron Knowles, Stephen Keel (Mamadou Danso 90’), Scot Thompson, Brian Farber, Johan Claesson, Keith Savage (Tony McManus 46’), Takayuki Suzuki, Mandjou Keita, George Josten (Alex Nimo 80’)

 

Substitutes not used: Brian Visser, Tom Poltl, Shaun Higgins, Jason McGlaughlin

 

TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Mandjou Keita 3); FOULS: 13 (Keita 3); OFFSIDES: 3; CORNER KICKS: 3; SAVES: 5 (Steve Cronin 5)

 

Disciplinary Summary:

SEA: Ianni (caution) 5’

POR: Hayes (caution) 26’

SEA: Nyassi (caution) 59’

POR: McManus (caution) 61’

SEA: Riley (caution) 93+

 

Referee: Yeder Reyes

Referee’s Assistants: Eduardo Irigoyen, Carlos Tercero

4th Referee: Andrew Brooks

Attendance: 16,382

Emerald City Supporters.

Thanking the Seattle fans after the match.