By Niall McCusker

Four days. That’s all that separated Portland’s worst performance of the season from their best.

On the back of an embarrassing 5-0 mid-week defeat to LA, a home game against your biggest rivals is the perfect chance to get back on track. Seattle came shorn of all their big money DP’s, so anything less than a win for the home side would have represented failure. In the end they delivered emphatically, but kept their supporters waiting until 15 minutes from the end when a quick Adi brace settled the game.

Portland started Diego Valeri and Gaston Fernandez together for the first time this season, so the attacking intent was clear from the outset. But it was the other attacking midfielder, Nagbe, who opened the scoring with a great, but sadly rare, strike from well outside the box.

The home-side continued to dominate the first half, but could not find a second goal and when the Sounders managed to get an equalizer from a set-piece the deflation around the ground was palpable and somewhat familiar. Seattle came out well at the start of the second half, but the Timbers soon reimposed their will on the game.

Portland fully deserved their goal when it eventually came and like the two that followed it had as much to do with hard work as it did pretty play. All three of the home team’s second half goals came from turnovers they won.

The Timbers need to have a good look at how to replicate this formula for converting good approach play into goals and wins. Their early season injuries have forced some rigorous examinations of tactics and fringe players and they may well be healthier for it. Meanwhile for Seattle the missing stars represent an easy excuse, but the question they should be asking is whether their absence exposes an underlying lack of balance and depth in the squad.

Here are the individual ratings:

Adam Larsen Kwarasey 7: No saves to make – again. In the second half he commanded his box well, claiming Seattle crosses and getting a good punch on a dangerous Pappa corner. He might have come for the ball on the Seattle goal as well, but the delivery was excellent and deserves credit.

Alvas Powell 8: Another excellent outing for the fast improving Jamaican youngster. He set the tone on his wing early, getting forward and forcing Pappa to worry about him instead of vise versa. His 50-60 yard runs from Kwarasey’s quick releases really gave Seattle something to think about if they considered sending numbers forward in attack.

Nat Borchers 7: He and Paparatto were not overly challenged, Barrett and Neagle dropped deep to help their midfield and the visitors did not offer much threat from play. Borchers almost had his third goal of the season from a corner, though he didn’t appear to know much about the deflection off him that Frei saved well in the second half.

Norberto Paparatto 7: The Argentine had a couple of sliced clearances he might have done better on, but other than that was quite solid. When Ridgewell comes back from his naughty boy time-out, Paparatto looks well positioned to keep challenging Borchers for starts.

Jorge Villafana 6.5: A lot is asked of the two corner backs in Porter’s system and they have both played almost every minute of this busy schedule. So it was no surprise that Villafana looked slightly tired in this game, he was little off the pace in closing down crosses.

He still managed to get forward and despite his size mismatch with Rose kept his side well protected from play. He does remain somewhat vulnerable at set-pieces though, particularly when teams can isolate him as the last man at the far post – which is what happened when Seattle scored their equalizer.

After a few recent assists he was relegated from set-piece delivery in favor of Johnson and Valeri – demand them young man, your record speaks for itself.

Will Johnson 7.5: When Seattle tried high pressure Johnson was very secure and confident operating in tight spaces in front of his back four. His reintegration into the team continues at a pace that does him and the team’s medical staff credit. He was patient and content to let Chara do the attacking in the first half, in the second the Canadian came forward a little more but never recklessly.

On Seattle’s best chance from play in the first half some-one needed to track Azira’s run from deep onto Barrett’s pass – maybe that was on Johnson if one wants to quibble.

Diego Chara 8: The Colombian played a more advanced role in midfield and was an integral part of Portland’s early fast breaks. His confidence in Johnson behind him allows him to showcase his vision and passing – which are actually excellent when he’s not busy running around putting out fires.

Good tackles lead to goals – last weekend against Houston it was Will Johnson, this week Chara’s tackle on Fisher set-up Nagbe’s run to give Adi the game winner. Seattle were out of shape, Marshall for once in the game caught left-side with Adi free in the middle to slot home.

Diego Valeri (off in 66′) 7: If Portland’s talisman had been fully on his game matters would not have been level at halftime – a few heavy touches and miscued passes let the visitors off the hook. Seattle’s main danger in the first half was from set plays, the foul he gave up to gift them the one they equalized from looked unnecessary.

When things are not quite going your way it is tempting to hide a little and not want the ball – Valeri didn’t do that, he kept going and had a nice shot just wide prior to being withdrawn on the hour. Can he and Fernandez play together consistently? Perhaps not in all games, but now that both look to be fully embracing Porter’s work ethic it looks a realistic possibility.

Gaston Fernandez (off in 82′) 9: If he had lashed his first-half shot into the top corner after ‘megging Pineda at the edge of the box I might have had to consider a 10 (TEN). As it went into the arms of Frei instead ‘La Gata’ will have to remain on the mortal plane, but this was still perhaps the finest performance from a Timbers player this season.

He was at the center of everything good for Portland, tying the room together in a manner surpassed only by Lebowski’s rug. When all your fancy flicks and tricks are coming off and you are also working your arse off – you are pretty much unplayable (though a certain Mr Alonso might have thought of one or two ways to try had he been involved).

He won’t get an assist for Adi’s second, Opta will gave that ‘stat’ to Rodney Wallace, but it was Fernandez’s tackle on the halfway line that won the ball back and his continued run that pulled Marshall away from Adi to create space for the shot.

Last night Fernandez was spotted basking in the sun in the front row of the crowd at S2 vs T2, the glow surrounding him from the late evening light was almost ethereal. Bask on good sir. Bask on!

Darlington Nagbe (off in 80′) 8.5: Nagbe with a great goal and a great assist – with his talent this should be written every other week instead of once or twice a season. But let’s not be churlish – the early shot using the defenders to screen Frei was perfectly executed. The speed of his run on the assist gave Seattle no time to recover their shape.

His goal came from an Adi knockdown to Fernandez, who fed Valeri, who in turn set up Nagbe – a goal involving all four front players is quite nice and a lot different from early in the season when Nagbe had little support.

Fanendo Adi 8.5: Up until his goal he was having a quietly effective game acting as a foil for the three men behind him. He didn’t drop deep to get involved in the midfield like Urruti often does, instead he stayed a little higher trying to pull Seattle’s defense out of shape and make room for the attacking midfielders to operate. It was an effective variation on recent tactics and with his two goals at the end you have a great response from a player who had been dropped to the bench in recent games.

Substitutes:

Rodney Wallace (on in 66′) 7: A goal and an assist is a pretty efficient 25 minute cameo, more than enough to forgive him for his earlier miss.

Maxi Urruti (on in 82′) 6.5: Unleashing Urruti’s energy on a tired and beaten defense is almost cruel and unusual punishment – but the Argentine did not show any mercy as he won the ball from a defender and set-up Wallace, bravely taking a whack in the process.

Jack Jewsbury (on in 80) 6: The veteran didn’t have a lot to do, but will have been glad to be on the pitch at the end to relish this well deserved victory.