SEATTLE — One of the most annoying monkeys to ever climb on the Seattle Sounders’ back has finally been removed. After eight long years, the Sounders finally beat the Portland Timbers at home in regular-season play. The 1-0 win wasn’t necessarily pretty, but it does solidify their No. 5 position in the Western Conference, while also ending a four-game winless streak since claiming the Leagues Cup trophy.
The only goal came off a beautiful sequence that was capped by a powerful strike by Pedro de la Vega in the 16th minute. Jesús Ferreira started the sequence when he played a blind ball to Paul Rothrock on the wing. Ferreira then got the ball back near the top of the penalty area and played it to Alex Roldan on the overlap. Roldan nutmegged a defender with his cross, allowing de la Vega to run onto it about 10 yards from goal and blast it past Maxime Crepeau.
The Timbers nearly equalized about 20 minutes later when David Da Costa wriggled free at the top of the penalty area and set a shot that looked destined for the back of the net, only for Stefan Frei to make a diving save.
The second half was played at a more frenetic pace with neither team really able to control the midfield, but it was the Sounders who had the better opportunities to add to their tally.
Danny Musovski, in particular, was in the middle of two particularly good looks. In the 77th minute, Cristian Roldan played a ball into that channel that Musovski won. He had Paul Rothrock streaking in on the left, but didn’t seem to see him and instead tried to set up his own shot. His heavy first touch allowed the defender to clear the ball away. On one of the final sequences of the game, Danny Leyva sent a ball over the top that Musovski was able to get to first but he took a little too long to shoot and Diego Chara tackled it away from behind.
The one negative was Albert Rusnák being sent off at 90+5 on a tackle while trying to stop a counterattack. He’ll now miss the Real Salt Lake game, for which the Sounders were already going to be extremely short-handed.
Those frustrations aside, this was a result that was far more important than how it was achieved. This was the Sounders’ first shutout in seven league games and had the feeling of a playoff contest. Assuming they can get at least one more point in their final two games, they’ll finish fifth and likely feel like they have more than a decent chance against whoever they face.
Lineups
Pedro de la Vega gets his first minutes since the Leagues Cup final, slotting in at left midfield while Alex Roldan is a somewhat surprising inclusion after making quicker-than-expected recovery from his injury. Also notable is Albert Rusnák dropping back a line to play in the double-pivot with Jesús Ferreira taking his spot at the No. 10. Along with Jordan Morris starting at the No. 9, it’s just the second time all year that the Sounders have started all three Designated Players in league play.
Key moments
16 — GOAL!!! Pedro de la Vega slams it home from about 10 yards out after a beautiful cross from Alex Roldan, who had been played in by Jesús Ferreira. Ferreira also started the sequence with a blind ball over the top to Paul Rothrock. Sounders, 1-0.
Champagne Football 🤌 What a sequence to open the scoring!
— Sounders FC (@soundersfc.com) 2025-10-05T03:00:41.244Z
25 — Shot! Ferreira makes a nice play to trap the ball in the midfield and dribbles all the way to the top of the penalty area before shooting just high.
30 — Chance! The Sounders can’t clear their lines at top of the box, allowing Antony to get control. He passes it off to Kevin Kelsey, but Nouhou slides over to disrupt the shot and it goes out for a goal kick.
32 — Chance! Ferreira plays a ball into the channel for Rothrock, who cuts it back to Jordan Morris but it’s tackled away at the last second.
34 — Save! David Da Costa gets an open look from the edge of the penalty area after Kim Kee-hee slips, but Stefan Frei makes a diving save to keep it out.
A moment for this UNREAL save from @stefan24frei.bsky.social 🤯
— Sounders FC (@soundersfc.com) 2025-10-05T03:18:58.103Z
Halftime — Jon Bell replaces Kim Kee-hee.
48 — Chance! Rothrock gets out on the break and slides the ball across to de la Vega at top of the penalty area, but his shot is high.
52 — Chance! Rothrock puts in a cross to Cristian Roldan just in front of goal but Kamal Miller intervenes just in time.
57 — Wide! Ian Smith plays in Kristoffer Velde on the left wing. Frei is quick off his line and closes the space, forcing Velde to shoot wide.
66 — Wide! Velde creates some space on the right wing to get off a shot from the top of the box but it goes just wide.
67 — Save! Georgi Minoungou gets out on the break and sends in a cross that is just a little behind Danny Musovski, allowing Kamal Miller to make a play that Maxime Crepeau is able to cover.
77 — Chance! Cristian Roldan plays a ball over the top to Musovski, who wins the ball and has Rothrock all alone. But instead of passing on his first touch, he tries to set himself up for a shot and loses the ball.
80 — Chance! Roldan plays Rothrock in on the wing, but Finn Surman makes a nice block.
83 — Save! Velde finds some space on the wing but Frei is able to save the shot easily.
88 — Wide. Cristian Roldans plays Musovski in on the right channel, he speeds ahead of Surman but his shot goes just wide.
90+3 — Save! Velde gets the ball on the wing and although João Paulo gets there first, his clearance hits off Felipe Mora who gets off a shot from about 10 yards out but it’s right at Frei.
90+5 — RED CARD! Albert Rusnák breaks up a counter with a tackle from behind that crunches Omir Fernandez’s ankle and is sent off after a VAR review.
90+7 — Chance! Musovski breaks in on goal after a nice ball from Danny Leyva, but he waits too long to shoot and Diego Chara tackles it away.
Quick thoughts
A much-needed win: It’s hard to overstate just how important this win was for the Sounders, even if it had somewhat minimal impact on where they will finish the season. It had been eight years since they had beaten the Timbers at home and, especially recently, it seemed like they were constantly finding new ways to shoot themselves in the foot. When Rusnák was red-carded, it had an intense feeling of déjà vu. This time, though, they saw it out and actually created the better of the chances from that point forward.
Pedro shows his class: One of the Sounders’ biggest x-factors is de la Vega, who had not played a single minute since the Leagues Cup final. Given that, it was a little surprising to see him in the starting lineup. But he repaid Brian Schmetzer’s faith with a complete game. Yes, the goal was obviously important, but what seemed to really earn praise from Schmetzer was the tactical and defensive effort that he put in. The midfielder now has 10 goals and four assists across all competitions.
Looking ahead: The win was made even more important because the Sounders are likely to be missing at least seven players for next week’s game against RSL and then will make cross-country trip to play New York City FC in the regular-season finale. This was the Sounders’ last best chance to get a win. That it came against the Timbers was obviously important, but the prospects of heading into the playoffs on a seven-game winless run was also very real.
Notable quote
‘We don’t like the Timbers so this was very cathartic.’
— Jeremiah Oshan (@jeremiah.sounderatheart.com) 2025-10-05T05:08:26.412Z
Player spotlight
Cristian Roldan has been arguably the Sounders’ best and most important player all year and he showed exactly why against the Timbers. Roldan was at his two-way best in the game, repeatedly creating chances on offense and snuffing them out on defense. He finished with 17 passes into the final third, five tackles, seven recoveries and won 12 of 17 duels. Now, he’s off to join the United States national team.
