Portland Timbers 1, Seattle Sounders 0: Defense shines in preseason victory over MLS team (original) (raw)
By
SEATTLE -- Even if it was preseason, the Portland Timbers won bragging rights against the Seattle Sounders on Thursday night with a 1-0 win over the Major League Soccer
team
.
The game against the Sounders at Qwest Field was the Timbers' second preseason contest -- they played Oregon State on Saturday -- and first true test. The Sounders had played five preseason games and appeared sharper mentally and physically.
"They put a lot of pressure on us," Timbers coach Galvin Wilkinson said. "At this stage of the season, for the players to come into this game being as competitive as they were, I'm very impressed."
The defense looked good for just the second preseason game, making the Timbers lone goal late in the first half hold up. The backline, which suffered critical breakdowns during late-season games last season, was able to clear numerous corner kicks and crossing passes into the box. Newcomer Ian Joy and returnee Mamadou Dansu anchored the defense.
Trying to score the equalizer, the Sounders went to a 3-5-2 set during the last 25 minutes in the second half and applied constant pressure on the Timbers, but the defense and goalkeeper Steve Cronin held firm.
"We defended well and we had good discipline and a great mentality," Wilkinson said. "Tactically, we did very well. We didn't get exposed too many times."
Portland's passing wasn't very good in the first half, with the Timbers giving away possessions as a result of bad and mistimed passes. The Timbers' loose passing allowed the Sounders to control play, and they just missed on a couple of scoring chances.
"We gave away the ball too many especially in the first half," Wilkinson said. "We were taking unnecessary risks under tremendous pressure. A lot of that was a result of the players being fatigue and making mental errors."
Another result of the sloppy passing and growing fatigue was the Timbers' inability to play their trademark attacking style on offense.
"We didn't get the numbers forward and we weren't as creative as I would have liked," Wilkinson said. "You could see that in the numbers we got forward. We weren't as consistent (Thursday night), we didn't connect and we didn't have any rhythm in the attacking half."
The Timbers took advantage of a defensive mistake by the Sounders to score late in the 44th minute.
Sounders defender Tyrone Marshall couldn't handle a pass just outside the Seattle 18-yard box and the ball was stolen by midfielder Ryan Pore. As Pore closed in on Seattle goalkeeper Kasey Keller, Pore flicked a pin-point pass as Gabriel Obatoli slid in and redirected the ball into the back of the net.
Notes:
The Timbers acquired Alex Nimo on a season-long loan from Real Salt Lake. Nimo, a former Benson Tech star, played for the Timbers last season, scored two goals and had one assist in 23 games with the Timbers. Nimo came on as a substitute in the 55th minute. ... Forward Mandjou Keita, the
team
's leading scorer last season, is not with the
team
. Keita is on loan with a club in India and is not expected to join the Timbers until April.
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