Seattle Sounders Vs. Portland Timbers: Cascadia Derby Ends In 1-1 Draw

Sounders starters: Keller; Riley, Ianni, Hurtado, Wahl; Evans, Alonso, Carrasco, Fernandez; Montero, Jaqua. Bench: Boss, Fucito, Gonzalez, Levsque, Neagle, Parke, Scott.

Timbers starters: Perkins, Hall, Brunner, Danso, Wallace; Nagbe, Jewsbury (C), Chara, Alhassan; Cooper, Perlaza. Bench: Gleeson, Horst, Purdy, Marcelin, Moffat, Pore, Zizzo

To the average North American sports fan, that may seem like an awful lot of tickets to guarantee to visiting fans. But for Sounders and Timbers supporters, in particular, that is seen as barely a starting point. The Sounders, because they theoretically have another 30,000 or so seats that they could choose to open, are generally painted as the bad guys in all this. Some of the more extreme elements have gone as far as calling it a “sham” and a “disgrace” on various social-media platforms.

At least one high-profile figure has thrown his support behind opening the floodgates to away fans. Alan Hinton, who coached both the NASL and USL versions of the Sounders after standout playing career in England, thinks the concerns over fan violence are way overblown.

With the game in penalties, Keller stopped a shot from Spencer to clinch the victory. Almost immediately, Millwall fans stormed the pitch, kicking off what can only be described as a riot. Here’s how Spencer remembered it, according to the Seattle Times:

We even have video:

It’s tough to see Portland scoring in buckets from open play tonight, but they will present a significant threat to Seattle on set pieces. Cooper, Danso, and Brunner are all massive men and they’re all fantastic in the air.

The teams head into this match on even ground, both sitting on 13 points. The Timbers have won four of their past five matches, but all their wins were at home. On the road, they’ve claimed just one point in four matches. The Sounders have won their past two home games, and have claimed at least a point in seven of their past eight matches overall.

Spencer has said that he doesn’t expect the league to take his team seriously until they start winning on the road. The Timbers have also not beaten the Sounders in their past four meetings and haven’t won in Seattle since 2005. A win on Saturday could, indeed, herald the beginning of a new era.