Clint Dempsey scored a second-half brace as Seattle Sounders upstaged arch-rivals Portland Timbers 3-1 in Sunday's MLS blockbuster.
In the American league's showpiece clash - played in front of 53,302 fans at CenturyLink Field - the Sounders walked away with bragging rights thanks to Dempsey and Cristian Roldan's late goal.
Reigning MLS Cup champions Portland had never won a regular-season match in Seattle, while they had failed to win on the road in 2016.
And that winless run continued after United States international Dempsey broke the deadlock from the penalty spot in the 61st minute.
Dempsey was at it again 10 minutes from the end, firing the ball low and hard beyond Timbers goalkeeper Jake Gleeson.
Roldan added some gloss to the scoreline three minutes later, putting Portland to the sword with a simple tap-in as the Sounders made it three consecutive wins.
The Timbers, though, did manage to pull a goal back in the third minute of stoppage time courtesy of Fanendo Adi.
Sunday's result helped the Sounders improve to 30 points, just two points adrift of the sixth-placed Timbers, who occupy the final play-off spot in the Western Conference.
Meanwhile, DC United overcame a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 at home to Eastern Conference rivals New York Red Bulls.
The third-placed Red Bulls led 2-0 just after the hour-mark thanks to Bradley-Wright Phillips and Felipe Martins, but two goals in the space of three minutes from Marcelo Sarvas and Patrick Mullins secured a share of the spoils in Washington.
DC remain sixth in the table, nine points behind the Red Bulls, who failed to close within two points of conference-leading New York City.
