Clint Dempsey scored his sixth goal in four matches against Portland Timbers to lift Seattle Sounders to a 1-0 victory at CenturyLink Field on Sunday.
Dempsey responded quickly after Timbers goalkeeper Adam Kwarasey failed to handle Andy Rose's initial shot and poked home the only goal of the game after 77 minutes to give the Sounders all three points.
It proved more than enough on a night where both teams struggled to generate chances for long stretches. Portland presented more of a threat in the second half and nearly equalized when second-half substitute Fanendo Adi hit the bar nine minutes from time, but the Sounders held firm without suspended defensive linchpin Chad Marshall and secured a third consecutive victory against the Timbers.
"I thought our back line played well, clearing out the problems when the ball was coming came in," Dempsey told FOX Sports 1's Julie Stewart-Binks after the match. "Stefan [Frei, Sounders goalkeeper] came out and made some good stops for us as well. I thought we managed the game well. We would have liked to create more chance. We would have liked to score more goals, but we're happy with the win."
The memories of the open games last year influenced the proceedings in the early stages. Portland included Jack Jewsbury from the start to increase the solidity in midfield and set out a compact stall to reduce the time and space allotted to Clint Dempsey and Obafemi Martins. The visitors' reluctance to commit numbers forward in search of goal led to gridlock for much of the first half.
Lamar Neagle presented most of the danger as the Timbers focused their efforts on Dempsey and Martins. Neagle drifted wide to the left and served an enticing ball toward the near post. Martins collected at the second attempt with two Timbers defenders at close attention, but he eventually turned wide of the far post.
Dempsey and Martins floated out to the right to test Alvas Powell and twist their way into prompting a chance for Neagle. Their work in that department created a numerical advantage and provided Neagle with an opportunity to fire toward goal in first-half stoppage time, but Kwarasey reacted well to push Neagle's effort around the far post.
Kwarasey's intervention ensured the two teams went into halftime on level pegging with little to separate them. The status quo continued in the early stages of the second half, though the Timbers started to warm to the task of presenting problems for the Sounders defemse.
Maximiliano Urruti -- preferred to Fanendo Adi up front in a bid to boost the Timbers' work in possession -- benefited from good work by Darlington Nagbe inside the final third. Urruti collected Nagbe's pass and forced Stefan Frei to save his shot from distance.
Urruti's drive highlighted the desire of both teams to press the initiative a bit more and send numbers into the attacking third. The commitment stretched the game vertically at points and supplied more space to exploit on the counter.
Nagbe reaped the benefits from the state of play to burst forward on the counter, charge into the space and lash just wide of the near post. Urruti then slotted home from an offside position as the Timbers continue to push for a potential winner.
Timbers boss Caleb Porter threw Adi into the mix in place of Urruti and nearly reaped the benefits immediately. Alvas Powell reached the byline and whipped a good cross to the near post. Adi met it appropriately and watched as his effort trickled wide of the far post.
The miss proved particularly costly moments later as the Timbers concede a throw inside their own defensive third and provided the Sounders with a chance to snatch the points in the process.
Dylan Remick hurled the ball into the penalty area and incited chaos in the process. Portland failed to cope with the initial delivery and let the ball bounce inside the penalty area. Sounders substitute Andy Rose hit his resulting shot straight at Kwarasey, but Kwarasey failed to handle the straightforward attempt. Dempsey swept toward the far post and ushered the ball over the line to spark a furious response from the CenturyLink faithful.
Dempsey's opener sparked a furious conclusion. Adi hit the frame with a header nine minutes from time, but the Timbers fell short in their bid to rescue a point in the late stages. The final whistle inevitably left the Timbers to rue their set piece lapse, while the Sounders celebrated their third straight victory over the Timbers in all competitions for the first time since 2010.
