Seattle Sounders FC( 5-7-6, 21pts) had their dream start against the Portland Timbers when they scored the game’s first goal. Unfortunately for the visitors, twenty-seven minutes of good quality soccer was wiped out by seven minutes of just plain bad soccer. The seven minutes of bad soccer was followed by a gritty, determined, 45-minute effort that earned the visitors a 2-2 while playing a man down against the Portland Timbers.(7-7-4, 25pts)
The Seattle Sounders scored when Joevin Jones made good on his second attempt at goal to give the Sounders a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute. Jones first attempt at goal was saved by Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleason and the rebound fell to Jones who promptly slammed the ball into the back of the net.
The Sounders were in cruise control, winning the possession battle with crisp, penetrating passes until the 36th minute when Portland forward Dairon Asprilla hit the crossbar which was the home side’s first real clean cut shot at goal. The Sounders defense kept the Timber offense in check until the 43rd minute when Sounder defender Brad Evans was issued a red card for bringing down Timber forward Darlington Nagbe inside the Sounder box.
In addition to the red card, the Timbers were awarded a penalty kick which Fernando Adi blasted past Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei to tie the game at 1-1 after 43 minutes of play. The game looked liked it would unravel for the ten men Sounders when Asprilla headed in a corner kick to give the Timbers a 2-1 lead at the break
Rather than lick their wounds and go home, the Sounders continued to battle all the way into second half stoppage time when the determined effort paid off when Clint Dempsey scored in the 94th minute to tie the game at 2-2 . Dempsey started the game on the bench due to Nationa Team duty scored his ninth goal in nine games against the Timbers.
The tie against the Timbers restores some confidence to a Sounder team that gave up a stoppage time goal to Orlando City Wednesday night and saw a win turn into a tie.
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