Bye scores late goal in Timbers’ 2-1 victory over the Sounders

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Brandon Bye scored the go-ahead goal in the 82nd minute and the Portland Timbers handed the rival Seattle Sounders their sixth straight loss with a 2-1 victory Saturday night.

Kevin Kelsey also scored for the Timbers (7-8-3 ), who are undefeated in four straight games.

“it was unbelievable,” interim Timbers coach Jack Cassidy said about the atmosphere. “The noise of Brandon’s goal hit the back of the net. I had a perfect view. I was just in my seat at the time, and I just see it whisked in the bottom corner. So yeah, amazing moment, amazing noise. It’s a European atmosphere, you know. It is.”

Kalani Kossa-Rienzi scored the lone goal for the injury-depleted Sounders (7-7-3).

The Pacific Northwest rivals went into the match with the series even at 16-16-11 in Major League Soccer play. With the win, the Timbers are now 11-8-4 over the Sounders at Providence Park.

Seattle’s Paul Arriola was subbed out in the opening minutes after what appeared to be a right leg injury, replaced by Kossa-Rienzi.

Kossa-Rienzi scored in the 27th minute to give the Sounders the early lead. Timbers goalkeeper James Pantemis got a hand on it but couldn’t keep the ball out of the net.

Before the end of the first half, Kevin Kelsey scored off a well-placed cross from Kristoffer Velde. Kelsey and teammate Jimer Fory did a coordinated dance to celebrate the equalizer. It was Kelsey’s team-leading ninth goal of the season and Velde’s fifth assist.

The Timbers went ahead on Bye’s blast off a feed from David Da Costa that sailed past Sounders goalkeeper Andrew Thomas.

“He does a great job with attracting players and everybody’s watching him, because he’s such a talented player, so he dragged some players over and I was in a good spot,” Bye said about Da Costa. “I hit one like that in warmups and we were joking about it. So I was ready for it.”

At the final whistle, defender Finn Surman ran to celebrate with Pantemis while supporters in the crowd held a sign that read “Fish Gutted.”

“Today was much better from us, but it’s still a loss. Until we get a win, there’s no words that will put this right or make it feel any nicer,” said Seattle’s Albert Rusnák. “It’s unacceptable. Every little thing is going against us right now.”

The Cascadia Cup was created by supporters of the Timbers, Sounders and Vancouver Whitecaps before the teams joined MLS. The trophy goes to the team with the most points in head-to-head matchups at the end of the regular season.

The Timbers and the Sounders have played 126 times since the overall series started in 1975 when the teams were part of the NASL.

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