TUKWILA — Kenny Cooper scored on a header in the 111th minute and the Seattle Sounders advanced to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals with a 3-1 win over the Portland Timbers on Wednesday night.
Cooper’s goal came in the second half of extra time after Darlington Nagbe’s goal in the final seconds of regulation forced an additional 30 minutes of play. Gonzalo Pineda sent a pass into the penalty area from 30 yards out and Cooper was able to flick it past Portland goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.
Seattle held on over the final minutes, helped by the Timbers playing a man down after Diego Chara was given a red card in the 99th minute for his tackle of Seattle’s Marco Pappa.
Pappa added an insurance goal in the 116th minute beating Ricketts from the top of the penalty area with a right-footed shot. Seattle, which won three straight U.S. Open Cup titles between 2009-11, advanced to host the Chicago Fire in the U.S. Open Cup semifinals on Aug. 13.
It was the first of two games this week between the heated Cascadia rivals. The Sounders will host the Timbers in MLS play Sunday night.
Osvaldo Alonso scored on a leaping right-footed shot in the 69th minute to give Seattle a lead that held up until Nagbe’s goal in the third minute of second half stoppage time.
Nagbe beat Lamar Neagle to a loose ball along the sideline, took a return pass from Steve Zakuani and beat Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei to the far post to stun the sellout crowd. Seattle was seconds away from advancing, but was forced into an extra 30 minutes.
The first 90 minutes of the Open Cup meeting lacked the fireworks of the wild 4-4 draw the Sounders and Timbers played to in Portland in April, the first of three MLS matches this season. But both sides fielded a nearly first-team squad for the quarterfinal matchup.
That included the return of Seattle’s DeAndre Yedlin following his standout performance for the United States at the World Cup. Yedlin played all of regulation on his 21st birthday, but was subbed off for extra time. Seattle is expected to have U.S. captain Clint Dempsey back in time for Sunday night’s match where more than 60,000 are expected at CenturyLink Field.
