Raul Ruidiaz leads Sounders past Timbers for rivalry win

PORTLAND — For many, the Cascadia derby Sunday stopped in the 50th minute.

How do those who aren’t Portland Timbers fans possibly move on from Raul Ruidiaz’s game-winner? Sounders teammate Obed Vargas slid him a pass just outside the top of the box, Ruidiaz using one touch to scoop up the ball and beam a left-footed shot past Timbers keeper Maxime Crepeau.

As Ruidiaz blew kisses to an irritated Providence Park crowd, surely journalists weren’t the only ones hitting replay, replay, replay.

“That was something else, highlight reel stuff,” Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer said after replaying it himself.

Well, for those who couldn’t get past the golazo, the Sounders used textbook defense to get out of nervy moments and secure a 2-1 win.

Ruidiaz has already proven he’s back to form. His career 15th derby was another exclamation point. The goal was his 10th overall against Portland — the most of any player in the MLS era of the rivalry.

“It’s a totally different match because it’s a classic,” Ruidiaz said, as translated from Spanish, of the mindset for the derby. He has seven goals this season after totaling five last year. “For the team, what’s most important is to win despite it being Portland or any other team. It gives us confidence, but it’s a long season.”

The sunny afternoon wasn’t picturesque for Seattle (3-5-4).

Sounders defender Jackson Ragen didn’t track back in defending Jonathan Rodriguez in the 15th minute. The latter collected a long ball and used his chest to bounce pass it to a racing Felipe Mora at the mouth of the goal. The forward used a right-footed toe poke to send it over the line for the early lead.

As Timbers supporters let loose green smoke bombs and delighted in the stands, the visitor’s remained calm in the wild atmosphere of 25,218 people.

“We dug really deep in conditions where it’s easy to neglect those details,” Sounders keeper Stefan Frei said. “After going down a goal, it can be difficult in this hostile environment to find yourself out of that hole. But we did. We had a good mix of going direct at times and at times finding possession and having prolonged spells of possession.”

Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan spotted his chance in the 19th minute. He controlled a deflected ball and was singularly focused in quickly sending a right-foot shot at goal. Crepeau was slow to react, but VAR wondered if that was because Sounders forward Jordan Morris was in the way or offside.

The goal stood. Roldan’s celebration was an homage to the newest mother in his life — his wife, Ciana. The newlyweds are expecting their first child later this year. Roldan grabbed the game ball and tucked it under his jersey to make a pregnant belly and sucked his thumb as he ran around the field.

“My wife was in the stands and in the direction that I scored it,” Roldan said. “I’m happy to be able to celebrate on Mother’s Day. We were talking about when I was going to score and it took such a long time. But it was definitely meant to be to score [Sunday].”

Ruidiaz’s shot helped snap a six-game winless skid against Portland. A perk for the Sounders is extending the Timbers’ winless run to nine matches this season. Portland (2-6-4) dropped to last in Western Conference standings in coach Phil Neville’s first year at the helm.

Seattle moved up to 10th in conference.

“We knew the loser of the game was going to be in last place,” Roldan said. “The motivation was definitely there. We don’t want to be in last place. We feel like we have a good enough team to compete for trophies this year. So, it was really important to go on the road, grind out a game and put the Timbers in last place.”

But the negative is Nouhou was shown a yellow card in the 55th minute for a foul. The defender will serve a one-game suspension when the Sounders travel to play Real Salt Lake on Wednesday.

The Sounders are already playing with an altered back line. Jon Bell started in place of Yeimar Gomez Andrade (quad) at center back and Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer shifted Roldan back a line to fill-in for midfielder Josh Atencio (hamstring). Vargas replaced Roldan on the right wing.

Bell also started in Seattle’s road win against Philadelphia in April and last week’s U.S. Open Cup win at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila. But little can compare to Sunday’s experience.

“Our fan section was crazy,” he said. “At one point they were louder than the rest of the Timbers fans. For us, it’s motivation and it backs us up a lot, especially when we tied it up and Raul got the second goal. Hearing the shout ‘Sounders,’ it was a motivational feeling.”