TIM BOOTH, AP Sports Writer
SEATTLE (AP) — Cristian Roldan scored on a header off a corner kick in the fourth minute and the Seattle Sounders held on to beat Portland Timbers 1-0 on Saturday.
The first of three matchups in the regular season between the Cascadia rivals landed on a sun splashed afternoon where the quality of the weather exceeded the soccer.
There were chances on both ends, but only Roldan was able to find the back of the net even as he was being hugged from behind by Portland defender Zarek Valentin.
Roldan’s first goal of the season was a reactionary flick after Chad Marshall initially directed Nicolas Lodeiro’s corner kick toward the goal. Portland goalkeeper Jake Gleeson was frozen by the redirection from Roldan.
Seattle (4-5-4) won its second straight match, while the Timbers (5-5-3) — once on top of the Western Conference — are winless in their last five matches. Seattle improved to 7-0-2 at home in the regular season against Portland and posted consecutive shutouts in the regular season for the first time since early 2016.
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