Four-goal flurry sees Timbers top Sounders

Leading up to Portland’s 4-1 demolition of Seattle on Saturday night, the atmosphere was oddly quiet.

A nervousness had overswept the Portland faithful, and although the stadium was rocking by kickoff, outside the mood was timid. Hopeful, but timid.

The Timbers had been on a horrible skid. No wins since opening night. Two points and three goals in their last five matches

Portland had a (relatively) strong XI on paper (by their standards), with Evander returning to the starting lineup for the first time since scoring at LAFC. Franck Boli made his first start as a Timber. Both of those guys were on minutes restrictions of 70-ish minutes. Dairon Asprilla got his second consecutive start after missing the first five weeks.

But this was still Seattle’s game to lose. The table-topping Sounders had just one blemish on their resume — a narrow loss to fiery Cincinnati.

Seattle were missing a couple pieces, but overall their XI stacks up against the best in the league on paper.

4-2-3-1 for both teams. Tables set.

It was a very physical game from the jump. Both teams had decent chances in the first half, but nothing materialized.

Seattle punched first. Raul Ruidiaz’s goal in the 58th minute marked a horrible defensive collapse for Portland. All the had to do was slide the ball into a wide open half of the net.

It also deflated Portland. The match looked headed for a 1-0 grind-it-out affair for the Sounders, if not worse. Portland needed a major wake-up call to get anything out of the game.

Then a bomb went off.

Dairon Asprilla hit a bicycle kick. Another one. A super clean one. One that came entirely against the run of play.

And one that certainly saved the match for Portland.

It woke up Providence Park. It woke up the Timbers. And it certainly woke up Nathan Fogaça, who out-muscled Seattle center-half Jackson Ragen and kept his composure to give Portland the unlikeliest of 2-1 leads.

In the week before the match, Ragen had some off-putting remarks about the game’s implications.

"It is a big game for them [Portland], especially this year."

Asprilla’s best quote from postgame: “I am happy now.”

At 2-1, a result still seemed very much in play for the Sounders, who still boasted one of the most dangerous attacking fronts in MLS.

But the damage wasn’t done.

Niezgoda pounced on a horrendous Stefan Frei mistake, and Juan Mosquera took it upon himself to remind the visiting Seattle fans who still runs this rivalry.

I sit here in the press box, a few minutes after the final whistle, still dumbfounded by what I just saw. I cannot overemphasize the importance of the Asprilla goal — not just for the score implications, but for the energy it injected into the stadium.

Again, Portland had no business climbing back into this match. From kickoff of the second half up until the Asprilla goal, Portland looked dead. Decaying. Putrid.

Like a gutted fish.