Sebastian Blanco scored on the same pitch where he tore his ACL almost a year ago, Felipe Mora added a late goal after setting up Blanco, and the Portland Timbers beat the Seattle Sounders 2-0 at Lumen Field on Sunday night in a much-needed Heineken Rivalry Week victory.

Blanco was making only his second start after returning from injury, and the result would help Portland climb back above the Western Conference playoff line into seventh place. Mora's four goals and eight assists have helped the Timbers avoid a season sweep for the first time since the rivalry began in MLS in 2011. On Sunday, though, his goal and assist were aided by some surprisingly poor Seattle defending.

Portland's first clean sheet came during this game and would be the first since a 3-0 win over the LA Galaxy on May 22 that was kept by Steve Clark, who made five stops to extend his team's undefeated streak at Lumen Field to six games. If you count Joao Paulo's shot that Clark pushed into the crossbar, he received some support from the goal frame, which was hit by the Sounders four times throughout the total 90 minutes.

Seattle is still in first place in the Western Conference, but they have lost three of their past four games at home and have failed to score on two of those occasions.

Even on one of Portland's finest evenings of 2021, the Timbers were unable to avoid some bad news in what has been a difficult season. It arrived in the shape of midfielder Eryk Williamson, who had to be stretchered off the pitch and replaced in the 12th minute after suffering a serious-looking leg injury. After being called up to the US men's national team for the Concacaf Gold Cup this summer, the 24-year- old's status has been climbing all season. Nonetheless, this was a significant win for a Timbers club who had only won once in their previous seven games and was on the verge of missing the playoffs.

[Photography by ICONIC photographer Alejandro Sanchez]