In July of 2016, the Portland Timbers took on their rival Seattle Sounders FC as the reigning MLS Cup champions for the first time. The match did not disappoint the hometown crowd as Portland defeated Seattle, 3-1 behind a Diego Valeri brace.
Valeri selected this match for this week's PTFC: From the Archives, presented by KeyBank. Tune in to FOX 12 Oregon KPTV or Timbers.com on May 16, 2020 at 3pm PT to see a special rebroadcast of match.
6History Books – Valeri bookended halftime with his brace, scoring goals in the 44th and 50th minute of the match. His goals came just six minutes apart in game time. It is the shortest gap between goals in Valeri's career.
8Looking Ahead – Fanendo Adi clinched the match with his goal on a counterattack 20 minutes into the second half. Adi finished his Timbers career with eight regular-season goals against Seattle, which is the third-most among all MLS players in games against Seattle (behind Chris Wondolowski and Robbie Keane).
2Career High – Lucas Melano was a lynchpin in both counterattack goals for Portland delivering the assists on Valeri's first goal and Adi's second-half goal. The match was the only time in Melano's Portland tenure that he had multiple assists in a single match.
143Surprise! Defender Jermaine Taylor was credited with seven assists in his MLS career, which spanned 143 games. One of those seven came in the match when his long switch found Valeri, who then chested and headed the ball around the defender before looping a shot over Seattle's goalkeeper.
9On A Streak – The victory capped a nine-match unbeaten streak for the Timbers. The streak is the fourth-longest regular-season unbeaten run for the Timbers in MLS play.
