The ex-Newcastle United defender’s set-piece header helped the reigning MLS Cup champions secure a 4-2 home win over the Seattle Sounders.
Former Newcastle United defender Steven Taylor scored his first goal for the Portland Timbers on Sunday night as they beat fierce rivals Seattle Sounders 4-2 at Providence Park.
Exactly one week after suffering a 3-1 defeat at Seattle, the Timbers essentially put the rematch to bed within the opening 45 minutes, racing out to a 4-0 lead to leave the visitors shell-shocked going into the break.
Lithuanian left-back Vytas Andriuskevicius got the scoring under way in the 16th-minute with a powerful header off a corner kick, before Fanendo Adi doubled Portland’s advantage five minutes later with his 13th goal of the season.
Diego Chara and Diego Valeri then combined to set up Lucas Melano for a simple finish to make it 3-0 just before the half-hour mark, before Taylor opened his MLS account on the stroke of half-time when he escaped his marker and nodded home a Valeri free-kick.
HT: @TimbersFC with an absolute dominant half. It’s 4-0 in Portland. #PORvSEA #RivalryWeek https://t.co/cmbiNNK8B0
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 28, 2016
The Sounders briefly rallied immediately after the interval, finding two early goals from Andreas Ivanshchitz and Jordan Morris to raise some faint hope of a comeback, but they could not keep the momentum going as the Timbers went on to claim revenge for the previous weekend’s result.
As well as scoring, Taylor produced a strong defensive display in the heart of the backline alongside fellow Englishman Liam Ridgewell, and the summer signing was delighted to mark his second appearance for the club with both a goal and three points after enduring a difficult debut at Seattle.
“After the Seattle game [last weekend] we were all hurt and all week was tough,” he told Timbers.com after the match. “The manager was very strict in training; a lot of defensive work. We were just getting back to the basics really. I thought we did the basics very well.
“We started with a good tempo. I don’t think they could handle us with [Fanendo] Adi up front. He was holding the ball up. I thought our game management was perfection in the first half. It really was. I think we caused them all sorts of problems in through the lines.
“The confidence was just breathing through the side,” continued Taylor, who joined the Timbers earlier this month after ending his 21-year association with Newcastle in June when his contract expired.
“For me, it was a joy. I’ve never been involved in a one-sided first-half performance ever in my career. For that to happen today was very good. To get the goal was a bonus, but for me it was all about three points and staying above the red line.”
The win over Seattle moves the Timbers up to sixth place in the Western Conference after 27 games, having recorded nine wins, eight draws and suffered 10 defeats to leave them with 35 points.
After winning their first MLS Cup title last season, Caleb Porter’s side have performed well below expectations this year, but Sunday’s victory at least puts them back on track to make the playoffs with seven matches remaining.
“Obviously our backs were against the wall coming into the game. We knew that. When you look at how tight the race is. Look at the fact that we lost two games in a row on the road.” head coach Porter told Timbers.com. “The great thing about this team, and the way we built it and the group of guys that I have is they don’t dwell on past games, past failures.
“You could tell in training that we were going to play well. So I was pleased to see in that first half us put on such a dominant performance on both sides of the ball, comprehensive. Score four goals, going away it could have been 5-6 goals.”
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