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Blaise Bourgeois¡27 August 2022
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Blaise Bourgeois¡27 August 2022
Friday night was sensational as some of the Western Conferenceâs best and most illustrious sides were in action and in spectacular form.
Here is what went downâŚ
Scorers: Asprilla 41Ⲡ(pen), Blanco 51â˛; GĂłmez 8â˛
The second match of the night saw one of the biggest rivalries in Major League Soccer enjoy another beautiful and exciting chapter.
In the end, it was the home Portland Timbers who came from behind to beat the Concacaf Champions League-winning Seattle Sounders by a 2-1 scoreline.
Of course, it had to be Sebastian Blanco with the winner, tapping the ball home into the empty net into the 51st minute.
It was a back-and-forth affair that started with YĂŠimar GĂłmez winning a header on the back post and perfectly finishing Alex Roldanâs initial cross.
Though Seattle owned most of the first half, it would be YĂŠimar GĂłmez to give up a (very controversial) penalty to Portland just before half-time, which was expertly put away by Dairon Asprilla, who also had the assist on Blancoâs winning goal.
The Sounders and Freddy Montero would have a late penalty shout go unanswered as an otherwise beautiful match was marred by questionable officiating.
The win moves the Timbers temporarily back into the seventh and final playoff place in the West on 36 points while Seattle sit in 10th, just three points behind.
Scorers: Fagundez 32â˛, Urruti 47â˛, 51â˛, Driussi 59â˛; Arango 61â˛
In a battle between the top-two teams in the West, it was Austin FC who beat LAFC for a second time in as meetings this season, dominating the visitors 4-1 on Friday night.
Though the stats at the end of the match were quite similar in nature, Austin were all over the league leaders from start to finish and were able to take their foot off the gas early on in the second half.
Diego Fagundez started off proceedings by lacing a beautiful postage-stamp free-kick to get the Q2 bouncing.
In the second half, Max Urruti scored a pair of goals in a four-minute span before Sebastian Driussi scored his league-leading 19th goal of the season to put Austin FC up 4-0 before the hour mark.
Chicho Arango would net his 11th goal in his last 14 games to cut the deficit to 4-1 just two minutes later but LAFC would not be able to find the net again as Austin cut the gap in the West to just six points.
In addition to his goal, Fagundez notched a pair of assists during the contest and is now tied for the MLS lead with 14 dimes on the year.