Portland Timbers x Seattle Sounders
On Saturday night, long before Providence Park opened to the public, the anticipation was obvious. The atmosphere was electric as supporters filed in and the Timbers Army broke out in song, heralding the arrival of fierce competition. Immediately after the conclusion of the national anthem, the Timbers Army once again proved why they are among the top fan bases in the league by performing a TIFO in celebration of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark that sent chills down everyone's spines.
In the 59th minute, Seattle got on the board. Ruidiaz celebrated in front of the Portland faithful, jeering them on. This would be a move he would soon regret.
The offense started cooking up a storm as Portland got over the shock of the opening goal. At the 71st-minute mark, chaos ensued. Dairon Asprilla took his strike on the vertical by mounting his now iconic bicycle kick goal, and it's a contender for goal of the month or year for sure. Asprilla took a pass from Santiago Moreno just beyond the six-yard box and unleashed a right-footed bicycle kick that left Stefan Frei standing on his line and watching his masterpiece unfold.
Fogaça pushed on a wonderful lofted pass from Moreno and took complete control of the ball with a spectacular first touch. As he was being pushed into the penalty area by a Sounders defender, he fired off a shot that Frei got a hand to but couldn't prevent from going in to make it 2-1
Portland wasted no time in dealing more carnage. In the 81st minute, Jaroslaw Niezgoda would score as well. When Stefan Frei mishandled a Fogaça shot from the left side of the box, Santiago Moreno was there to clean up the mess. The Timbers asserted their dominance as Niezgoda sprinted and celebrated in the corner in front of the away fans with the 3-1 scoreline.
In the dying moments of the game, Juan David Mosquera scored the final goal of the night. In the 89th minute, after a flurry of attacking activity, Cristhian Paredes passed the ball to Mosquera in the final third, and Mosquera boldly played it into the box, where he unleashed a right-footed blast past Frei making it 4-1.
[Photography by ICONIC photographer Hector Mendoza]
