Seattle Sounders finish U.S. Open Cup match vs. Portland with seven men
Seattle Sounders finished their U.S. Open Cup derby against the Portland Timbers with just seven players after three were sent off and one was injured after all substitutes had been used.
Portland won 3-1 after extra time late Tuesday in the fourth-round game, in which national team player Clint Dempsey was sent off for snatching the referee's notebook and tearing up the record of the game kept by the match official.
Seattle, the defending cup champion, was a goal down when defender Brad Evans was sent off in the 69th minute for a second yellow card.
Nigeria player Obafemi Martins was injured in the 85th after leveling the scores minutes earlier and could not continue, reducing Seattle to nine players with no substitutes left.He eventually was wheeled away on a stretcher.
In the 111th, Michael Aziri was shown a straight red card for apparently striking a Portland player with his elbow.
A furious Dempsey appeared to be booked for his reaction to the red card, and was then shown red after snatching the piece of paper from referee Daniel Radford, reducing the Sounders to seven players, the minimum with which a team is allowed to continue playing.
112' - ANOTHER RED CAR! DEMPSEY GETS ANOTHER RED IN PROTEST. SEATTLE DOWN TO SEVEN. SEVEN MEN. #RCTID #USOC2015
- Portland Timbers (@TimbersFC) June 17, 2015
"Our guys played like lions and left their hearts on the field, and they got robbed," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said. "Caleb [Timbers coach Porter] said last year at the end of the [cup] game that it was the worst refereeing performance he had ever seen. I think it was topped this year."
"I thought we looked very mature," said Porter, whose team will learn its round-of-16 opponent on Thursday. "That's what you want to see in your team. You want to see a team that's up for the fight, but keeps their cool.
"We knew this was going to be an intense game. History said we wouldn't win this game. We were able to knock off a very good team on their home field, something 20 other teams weren't able to do."
Play was briefly stopped toward the end of the game when objects appeared to be thrown at the Portland bench.
Rodney Wallace scored in the 10th minute of extra time for Portland. A shot from the top of the penalty area from George Fochive led to Wallace's game winner. Fochive's shot was blocked, but the ball rebounded out to Wallace in the right side of the 6-yard box. He ripped a shot past goalkeeper Troy Perkins into the far left corner.
Diego Valeri scored in the 48th minute for the Timbers, and Maximiliano Urruti scored an insurance goal in the 116th.
In other matches, a Dillon Serna brace helped the Colorado Rapids cruise past Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC with a 4-1 win.
Dominique Badji and Joseph Greenspan bagged a goal each for the Rapids before Serna put Switchbacks FC to the sword in the second half.
The San Jose Earthquakes rallied late to secure a win over Sacramento Republic FC at the Avaya Stadium.
A Chris Wondolowski double brought the MLS side back from two goals down to end the game level at 2-2 in regulation time. The Quakes went on to win the penalty shootout 6-5.
The Philadelphia Union also needed a shootout to decide their showdown with the Rochester Rhinos. Neither team could find a goal in the first 120 minutes of open play, leaving it to the skill and experience of the Union to eventually win it from the spot 3-1.
Quincy Amarikwa scored in the 115th minute to help the Chicago Fire edge past Louisville City FC 1-0, while Graham Zusi got the lone goal in Sporting Kansas City's 1-0 win over Saint Louis FC at Sporting Park.
Routine wins for other MLS sides included FC Dallas' 4-1 rout of Oklahoma City Energy FC, New York Red Bulls' 3-0 win over the Atlanta Silverbacks and Real Salt Lake's 2-1 victory versus Seattle Sounders 2.
