Pedro de la Vega scored early and the Seattle Sounders made the goal hold up in a 1-0 victory over the visiting Portland Timbers on Saturday night.
Stefan Frei made four saves to record his eighth shutout of the season and 114th of his career. Frei ranks second all-time in MLS clean sheets.
Seattle snapped a 10-match regular-season home winless stretch (0-5-5) against the rival Timbers dating back to 2017.
The Sounders (13-9-10, 49 points) are in fifth place in the Western Conference. Seattle, which clinched a playoff spot last week, halted a four-match winless stretch (0-2-2) since defeating Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup final on Aug. 31.
The Timbers (11-11-11, 44 points) continue to share sixth place in the West with Austin FC, who lost to St. Louis City on Saturday. Portland is just 1-4-4 over its last nine matches.
Seattle’s Albert Rusnak was given a red card in the seventh minute of second-half stoppage time, but the match was called less than two minutes later so Portland was unable to take advantage of the call.
Maxime Crepeau made three saves for the Timbers.
Seattle took the lead in the 16th minute as de la Vega drilled a right-footed shot into the net.
Portland had a stellar chance to tie it in the 34th minute as David Da Costa sent a hard left-footer toward the net, but Frei was in good position and got his left hand on the ball to knock it wide.
The Timbers tried to find some offense late in the match, but they couldn’t produce a solid chance until second-half stoppage time.
Seattle couldn’t clear the ball away from the box in the third minute of stoppage time. Felipe Mora collected it and sent a right-footed shot on net, but Frei made the save.
Earlier, Portland’s Kristoffer Velde had an opportunity in the 83rd minute, but his right-footed shot was easily stopped by Frei.
Seattle’s Danny Musovski was wide right on a right-footed shot in the 88th minute.
Seattle took 10 shots and Portland 9, but Portland held a 4-3 edge in shots on target.
–Field Level Media
