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Goals: Seattle - Rees Bettinger 87' (Chad Brown) Seattle midfielder Rees Bettinger scored in the 87th minute after a wild scramble in front of the Timbers goal, and gave the Seattle Sounders a 1-0 win over the Portland Timbers in an exhibition played before 1,475 at French Field in Kent, Washington. From the opening whistle, it was immediate obvious to the players and to the fans that one of the main issues of the match would be the turf. French Field is an astroturf pitch and the ball moved quickly across the dry carpet. Both teams tried to establish play to the wings, but both sides ended up playing passes from midfield that could not be chased down. This seemed to tighten up the play, and as a result, there were very few scoring chances throughout the match. The first good scoring chance was in the 5th minute when Sounders forward Viet Nguyen fought his way through the Timbers center defence and let go a hard shot from 12 yards out that was stopped by a spectacular diving save by Timbers goalkeeper Daniel Moss, who deflected the shot high with his right arm. The Timbers had a few good runs from the right side by Darren Sawatzky, but each time was closed down or unable to connect with Mark Baena on the cross. |  |
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The Timbers may have been deserved a penalty kick late in the first half when a Seattle defender controlled a ball in the box with the upper part of his arm, but the referee signalled play on. Neither team made a serious threat for the remainder of the half and at halftime the match was scoreless. The Timbers substituted most of their lineup for the second half, while the Sounders remained with most of their starters. Play continued to remain in midfield, few chances to score for each team. Late in the match, each team had a few good scoring chances. With about 25 minutes left in the match, a scramble for a loose ball in front of the Timbers goal nearly put the Sounders on the board, but a Sounders shot deflected off a Timbers defender and over the net for a corner kick. The Sounders applied some pressure off a few corner kicks late in the match, but the Timbers were able to clear. The Timbers nearly took the lead with 10 minutes left when a long free kick from the Timbers midfield to the far post looked ready to be headed in by the Timbers forward, but Ranvir Singh attempted to play it with his feet instead, and found the side netting to keep the match scoreless. |
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Just when it appeared the match was going to end scoreless, the Sounders got the bounce they needed. On an attempted clearance from deep within their box, the ball ricocheted off a Soiunders attacker and back into the box. Chad Brown attempted to shoot on goal but the ball ended up just going across the goal face to midfielder Rees Bettinger, who put the ball into a nearly open net to put the Sounders up 1-0. Neither team threatened again and the match ended with the Sounders getting their first preseason win, 1-0. (I apologize for the lack of specific names for the Timbers second half substitutes, but they were not announced and the game program had no numbers. If I get more information later I will update this report. Some of the numbers may also be off a little because this match nearly put the reporter to sleep) |  |
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Shots on goal: Timbers 8, Sounders 12 Saves: Timbers 4, Sounders 6 Corner Kicks: Timbers 6, Sounders 5 Fouls: Timbers 12, Sounders 25 Offsides: Timbers 0, Sounders 5 Cautions: Timbers 1 (Tolstolutsky 55' (Yellow)), Sounders 2 (O'Brien 38' (Yellow), Brown 61' (Yellow)) |
