April 16, 2023 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Seattle Sounders FC News Release
Seattle Sounders FC on the field
(Seattle Sounders FC)
SEATTLE, WASH. – Sounders FC (5-2-1, 16 points) fell 4-1 to Cascadia rival Portland Timbers (2-4-2, 8 points) on Saturday evening at Providence Park. Raúl Ruidíaz scored the lone goal for Seattle, but the home side tallied four strikes in the final 20 minutes to come away with three points. Seattle returns home to take on Minnesota United FC on Saturday, April 22 on the Emerald Queen Casino Pitch at Lumen Field (7:30 p.m. PT / Apple TV – Watch Free, iHeartMedia, El Rey 1360 AM).
Seattle scored first courtesy of Ruidíaz in the 58th minute. Nico Lodeiro played a ball into space on the right flank to Obed Vargas, who sent in a low cross to Ruidíaz for a one-time finish from just outside the six-yard box. It was Ruidíaz’s 75th goal in all competitions for Seattle, one shy of Fredy Montero for the most in club history. It was also the Peruvian’s 11th goal in 13 career games against Portland in MLS regular season and postseason play. It was the first career assist for Vargas.
Portland equalized in the 71st minute with the first of four consecutive goals to close the match. Santiago Moreno played a looping cross into the area that found Dairon Asprilla for an overhead strike past Stefan Frei and into the back of the net. The home side took the lead in the 76th minute when Nathan Fogaça was able to finish a breakaway chance, then added goals from Jaroslaw Niezgoda and Juan Mosquera in the 81st and 89th minutes, respectively.
With the start tonight, Nico Lodeiro became the sixth player to record 200 appearances across all competitions for Sounders FC in the MLS era, joining Osvaldo Alonso, Stefan Frei, Cristian Roldan, Brad Evans and Fredy Montero.
With four saves in Portland, Frei moves into sole position of fifth place in league history with 1,140 career regular-season saves. He passes Tony Meola to break into the top five and sits 11 stops behind Jon Busch (1,151).
MATCH NOTES
The loss drops Seattle to second place in the Western Conference with 16 points (5-2-1), two points behind first-place St. Louis CITY SC.
Raúl Ruidíaz scored for the second consecutive match, his first two goals of the season. The Peruvian now has 11 goals in 13 career games against Portland (including postseason play). With 75 goals for Sounders FC across all competitions, he is now just one strike behind Fredy Montero for the most in club…
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