PORTLAND — Wins over the Seattle Sounders will always be special for the Portland Timbers.
That’s why the Timbers are likely still basking in Sunday’s 4-1 win at Providence Park. But there are more reasons to be excited than just the score.
Sunday’s match came with several bonuses:
• Darlingon Nagbe’s first goal of the season.
• The first game started by both Will Johnson and Diego Valeri this season.
• An impact performance from Gaston Fernandez.
• Another steady effort from center back Norberto Paparatto.
• A stand-up effort from Fanendo Adi against the reigning MLS defender of the year, Chad Marshall.
Nagbe, Valeri and Fernandez played in tandem as attacking midfielders. And had fun doing it.
“I think we played really well,” Valeri said. “We created a lot of combinations in the middle with numbers, with Darlington, Gaston, Will (Johnson), Diego (Chara) and the outside backs too.”
It was, Valeri said, his kind of soccer.
“I like to play with a lot of options to pass the ball and find spaces and move forwards,” he said. “For me, that style of play is the identity of the team. We want to keep working on that, and I think that the results will come.”
With more game minutes, Valeri said, his fitness and sharpness will come, too.
“I’m feeling good, I feel strong. The response of the knee is good. We have a half season to play, so I want to give the team a little bit more energy,” Valeri said.
Also encouraging was the play of fellow Argentines Fernandez and Paparatto. They are, Johnson said, a perfect example of how foreign players often emerge in their second year in MLS.
“Paparatto’s the best example of that. He’s been unbelievable,” Johnson said. “No doubt it takes a while to learn the league. It takes a while to get your family settled and to adjust to life in Major League Soccer.”
Fernandez had moments as a goal scorer last season, but on Saturday had probably his best game for the Timbers.
“He’s been great,” Johnson said. “He’s been great defensively, too. I love the play on the third goal off the kickoff. He just makes a play. I pressure up and he comes from the side and steals the ball and, boom, 3-1 game over. He probably doesn’t get on the score sheet for that one but it’s a big-time play.”
For Adi, battling with Chad Marshall is a special challenge. “Playing against Marshall, I put it in my head that I have to play extra well. To me he’s the best defender in the league. I respect him a lot.”
“Adi had an outstanding game,” Timbers coach Caleb Porter said. “He obviously scored two goals, but the things he did to hold the ball up for us was similar to what he did in the last Open Cup game vs. Marshall.”
As for Nagbe, his only goal last season came in the final game. Two seasons ago he scored in the first game of the season and finished with nine goals. That first goal can take away pressure and inject confidence in a player, Porter said.
Noted Johnson: “It will mean a lot for him. Regardless of what he says, that’s a big goal for him. Just to get that first one and now he can go on a roll. He does so many things well.
“When he gets in those positions, we’re begging him to shoot,” Johnson said. “There was a play exactly like that (on Wednesday) in L.A. in the first 10 minutes where he was dribbling around and trying to make a pass. So for him to know that play and have it replicated today and smack a ball in the goal is huge for us and huge for him.”
Seattle reaction
Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said he was “extremely disappointed” with his team’s reaction on the two quick Adi goals that decided the game. But the Sounders coach said only during the first 15 minutes of the second half did his team play well.
“Portland was the better team. It was a deserved victory,” Schmid said.
Schmid said the absence of three key players in Clint Dempsey, Obafemi Martins and Osvaldo Alonso was a factor, but not an excuse for the lapses he saw.
“Yea, but there’s still enough veteran players out there. They’ve played a lot of games,” Schmid said. “(Portland has) had a couple of guys they’ve been able to rest and rotate around for sure. We needed to do better today than we did.”
