Kevin Kelsy tallied twice and added an assist as the Portland Timbers gave interim head coach Jack Cassidy a triumphant debut, routing the host Seattle Sounders 5-1 on Thursday night as both teams returned from the World Cup break.
Kamal Miller, Cole Bassett and Alexander Aravena also scored and David Da Costa added two assists for the Timbers (5-8-2, 17 points), who snapped a three-match winless streak (0-2-1) that led to the departure of coach Phil Neville on May 25.
Hassani Dotson scored on a header in the 87th minute off a cross from Albert Rusnak as the Sounders (7-4-3, 24 points) avoided a third consecutive shutout loss.
After leading 1-0 at the intermission, the Timbers scored three times in a seven-minute span early in the second half in the Cascadia Cup clash.
In the 56th minute, Ariel Lassiter sent a free kick from 35 yards out to Brandon Bye near the top right of the 6-yard box. Bye headed the ball toward the goal and Miller scooped a half-volley over goalkeeper Andrew Thomas from close range.
The Timbers tallied again on a counterattack four minutes later. Kelsy’s pass sent Da Costa on a run down the left wing, and he cut toward the middle of the field when reaching the top of the penalty area. Da Costa passed to Bassett on the right wing and his 12-yard shot deflected off defender Nouhou Tolo and into the net.
In the 63rd minute, Thomas made a diving save on a shot by Antony Alves Santos but the rebound fell to Kelsy at the top of the 6-yard box and he hammered it home.
Aravena, who came on as a substitute, scored in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time.
It appeared the Sounders had taken the lead in the fifth minute of the match when Paul Rothrock put a rebound into the net after goalkeeper James Pantemis made a diving stop on Jesus Ferreira’s shot from the top of the penalty area. The linesman immediately raised his flag to signal Rothrock was offside.
The Timbers opened the scoring on a counterattack started by Diego Chara in the 19th minute. Jimer Fory dribbled the ball from his own half of the field before spotting Kelsy in stride near the top of the penalty area. Fory’s left-footed cross found Kelsy for a header from 15 yards that went just over a leaping Thomas and under the crossbar.
Portland finished with more shots (19-12) and shots on target (10-8). Pantemis made six saves, Thomas five.
–Field Level Media
