Rose City Review
The Portland Timbers season is over.
After 120 minutes and eight rounds of penalties, the Timbers finally succumbed to an FC Dallas side that were slow to start but finished strong in Sunday night’s MLS Cup Playoff match. It was only fitting in 2020 that, with victory in their grasp after a beautiful goal from Jorge Villafana, the Timbers conceded in the 93rd minute to a bouncing ball played over the top of their backline, ultimately losing 1-1 (7-8) after a tense penalty shootout.
The Portland Timbers snatched a point in the final minutes of Sunday afternoon’s match at Banc of California Stadium, drawing LAFC 1-1 in the final match of the 2020 regular season.
The Timbers’ point and results from around the rest of the league mean that they finish the year in third place in the Western Conference and will face off against FC Dallas in the opening round of the MLS Cup Playoffs.
LAFC started the match with a high, hard press that tripped up the Timbers from the opening whistle. Trying to work the ball out of the back, the Timbers were swarmed on the ball and any poorly controlled touch was pounced on by the hosts.
In just the fifth minute, LAFC were able to take advantage of a mistake from Eryk Williamson just outside the Timbers box. Receiving a pass from Larrys Mabiala and looking to turn out of pressure, Williamson was instead bodied off the ball by Diego Rossi and coughed it up to Latif Blessing in space. The little Ghanaian fired off a shot that Steve Clark parried away, but Carlos Vela was in the right place at the right time to slam home the rebound, giving LA a 1-0 lead.
The home side kept up the pressure, keeping the Timbers off balance and mostly unable to get down the pitch in a coherent fashion. What few attacking moves the Timbers were able to put together fell apart as anything less than a perfect pass was picked off by the LAFC defense.
After the half, the Timbers came out of the locker room looking more composed, but still unable to put together much in the attacking end. Although the Timbers were able to venture forward much more readily in the second half, they could not find an opening in the LA backline to put a shot on goal.
The Timbers finally managed a shot on goal in the 80th minute. A ball down the right played Yimmi Chara into space and the Colombian cut a square ball into the box for the run of Diego Valeri. As his path met Yimmi’s cross, Valeri struck the ball first time, sending a fizzing ball directly at Kenneth Vermeer that the LAFC keeper snagged and held.
The Timbers managed a second chance on goal in the 88th minute, when Dairon Asprilla brought down a ball wide on the left and sent a chipped ball into the LA box. The ball fell to the head of Felipe Mora who flicked it on to the back post where Yimmi was crashing toward the goal. Throwing himself toward the ball, Yimmi got a boot to it and put a low-angle shot on goal, but Vermeer made himself big and blocked the ball away.
With the chances coming their way now, the Timbers finally made one count in the 90th minute of the match. On a quick break down the pitch following an LA chance, Valeri hit a long, diagonal cross into the box. Valeri’s ball sailed over Mora and Asprilla in the box, dropping instead for Jorge Villafana, cutting in from the left wing. As the ball fell to him, Villafana put a head to it, sending a shot bouncing off the turf and into the back of the net to draw the sides even at the end of regulation.
The Portland Timbers played their last home match of the 2020 MLS season on Wednesday, and it did not go well. With first place in the western conference on the line, the Timbers could not find a way to break down the Colorado Rapids, ultimately losing 1-0 to a side that had missed a full quarter of the already abbreviated season due to COVID-19 cases.
The Portland Timbers played a hard-fought match against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday night at Providence Park, ultimately coming away with a 1-0 win over their Canadian rivals. A stunning second-half goal from Yimmi Chara was enough to secure all three points for the Timbers and lift them into first place in the Western Conference.
The Portland Timbers had gone three games without a win coming into Wednesday’s match against the LA Galaxy at Providence Park, but that streak was ended in emphatic fashion on the night as the Timbers’ attack exploded past the Galaxy in a 5-2 win.
As has been their style in 2020, the Timbers opened the scoring early, putting the first ball in the back of the net in just the sixth minute. Running onto a ball down the left from Yimmi Chará, Jorge Villafaña clipped a cross into the Galaxy box that found Jarek Niezgoda cutting in front of Nicholas DePuy. The Timbers striker nodded the ball toward the far post, sending it skipping off the turf and past the dive of Jonathan Klinsmann to put the Timbers up 1-0.
The Galaxy had a chance to pull one back in the eighth minute, when a Cristian Pavón corner kick found the leaping form of Yony González rising out of the press of bodies in the Timbers box. González struck a strong header toward goal, but the chance clanged off the post and bounced away, with the following rebound hitting a forest of legs and deflecting clear.
The Timbers extended their lead in a chaotic fashion in the 19th minute. After a Diego Valeri corner kick was cleared away by the Galaxy, the Timbers had a pair of chances to put the ball back into the box. First Villafaña fired a shot toward goal that was deflected back out of the box and fell to Pablo Bonilla. The Timbers’ other fullback took his opportunity to fire a second shot into the box. This time the ball into the box found the head of Niezgoda for a snap header on goal. Niezgoda’s quick reactions were enough to beat Klinsmann again, putting the ball into the net and the Timbers up 2-0.
Niezgoda had a chance to complete his hat-trick in the 30th minute when the Timbers were sent to the spot for a handball in the Galaxy box, but instead, it was Diego Valeri who stepped up for the Timbers. The Maestro left no doubt as to who should be taking the Timbers’ penalties, striding up to the ball and hitting a powerful and precise shot that tucked perfectly between the post and the outstretched fingertips of the Galaxy keeper.
Now up 3-0, the Timbers were firmly in control for the remainder of the first half.
After cruising into half-time, the Timbers were given a rude reminder that Pavón is very, very good in the first minute of the second period. Moments after the restart, Sebastian Lletget, a half-time substitution, played a diagonal ball into the Timbers box. González was the first man to the ball, but let it run through his legs and onto Pavón in space. With the Timbers stepping toward González, Pavón was left to line up his shot and slam a simple finish past Steve Clark to get the Galaxy on the board.
In the wake of the Galaxy goal, it still took the Timbers several minutes to shake off the lethargy that had infected the team. As the second half continued, however, the Timbers shook it off and more.
In the 60th minute, Eryk Williamson received the ball from Niezgoda at the top of the Galaxy box and went on the dribble. Artfully cutting around his defender, he was in one on one with Klinsmann and, as the Galaxy keeper rushed off his line, Williamson picked out a simple finish to regain the Timbers’ three-goal lead.
Then, in the 74th minute, Andy Polo looked to top Williamson’s effort with a stunning goal of his own. A long ball from Chará on the Timbers’ left found Polo wide on the right. As the long ball fell to him, Polo took its measure and lined up a volley, hitting a spinning, dipping ball that swerved perfectly around Klinsman and inside the far post for the Timbers’ fifth goal of the night.
Although the game was fully over, the Galaxy did manage to grab back a second goal in the first minute of stoppage time. After a no-angle shot from González was parried away by Clark, the rebound fell to Pavón in front of goal for an easy finish, putting the final scoreline at 5-2.
After leading their match against the Seattle Sounders for 83 minutes and not giving up a single shot on goal in regulation time, the Portland Timbers once again fell apart in the final minutes of Thursday night’s Cascadia rivalry match. Despite a flying start, the Timbers left Seattle with only a single point after drawing 1-1.
The Timbers started the match strong, playing through the Seattle press with short, quick touches and runs that pulled their opponents out of position.
In the 10th minute, the Timbers made their early success in moving the ball count. After breaking out of their own end, the Timbers found Jorge Villafana out wide on the left flank. Villafana curled a ball into the box, finding the chest of Felipe Mora who, with a defender on his back, controlled the ball and laid it off for Yimmi Chara, making the trailing run. Yimmi received the ball and shot from the top of the Sounders box, forcing Stefan Frei into his first save of the match. Off The ensuing rebound fell to Andres Flores and the Timbers utility man took it first-time, crushing a return ball back on goal, past Frei, and into the back of the net.
The Timbers had a chance to extend their lead in the 16th minute when they opened the sounders up with another series of quick passes through the heart of the Seattle defense. After finding Villfana on the wing with a short pass, Yimmi made a darting run forward through the Sounders back line and was rewarded with a return pass from the fullback. Carrying the ball to the end line, Yimmi cut a pass back into the path of Diego Valeri who was crashing toward the near post. Valeri got a boot to the ball, but could not steer it on goal and instead put it out for a goal kick.
Late in the first half, the home side was able to wrest control of the game from the Timbers and put their visitors under pressure. Sending in cross after cross, the Sounders held the ball in the Timbers end for much of the final fifteen minutes of the half but could not find a shot on target.
The Sounders continued their push into the second half, but remained stymied by the Timbers stout defending and ability to work the ball out of danger.
After struggling to find chances throughout the match, Seattle came close to equalizing in the 76th minute. A rare midfield missed touch from Diego Chara off a Timbers corner led to a break for the Sounders with Jordan Morris streaking down the pitch. As Morris rushed toward goal, youngster Marco Farfan made a heroic effort to run him down, doing just enough to steer the USMNT star away from goal. Pulling up, Morris squeezed a cross around Farfan and found the run of Nico Lodeiro. As he arrived in the box, Lodeiro took the ball on the bounce and fired off a shot, but once again the effort was not on target and flew out for a goal kick.
Finally, in the 4th minute of second-half stoppage time, the Sounders got their first shot on goal; naturally, it ended up in the net. On a mystifying corner kick given up by Dario Zuparic, who fell on the ball while trying to shield it out for a goal kick, Lodeiro served in an in-swinging ball that found the head of Yeimar Gomez for a flick on to the back post where Will Bruin was lurking. Bruin peeled off the back of his defender, Zuparic, and got into space for the easy finish as Gomez’s header fell to him, snatching back a point for his team and leaving the Timbers wondering what had gone wrong.
In a back-and-forth affair against LAFC on Sunday night, it was only fair that the Portland Timbers split the points with the visitors. Although the Timbers were able to grab the lead early in the second half, they faded late in the match and could not match the energy of LA in the final moments of the 1-1 draw.
The visitors set a frantic pace to start the match, pressing the Timbers all over the field and giving them little time to work their way into the game. With their passing so disrupted, the Timbers struggled to find chances on their home turf.
Instead, it was LAFC who came close to opening the scoring in the 10th minute, through none other than Bradley Wright-Phillips. A long ball down the middle of the pitch from Eduard Atuesta dropped perfectly into the path of BWP’s run behind the Timbers backline. Sticking a boot out, Wright-Phillips got a touch on the ball to help it toward goal, but the veteran goal-scorer could only direct it toward Steve Clark, who held the ground and made the required save.
The close call marked the Timbers’ entrance into the game as LAFC’s press faded and the home side found their footing.
Thus emboldened, the Timbers managed a chance of their own in the 15th minute as they nearly made the most of a series of passes around the LA box. Working the ball around the attacking end and moving the LAFC defense from one side of the pitch to the other, the Timbers finally found Felipe Mora just inside the box in a patch of space. As the recovering LA defenders scrambled toward him, Mora got off a shot just a moment too late, having it blocked off his boot.
As the half wore on, the Timbers took control of the match, keeping the visitors from making regular moves forward and, in the final minutes of the half, finding another series of chances for themselves.
In the 38th minute, the Timbers found Diego Valeri out wide on the right side of the LA box. Valeri quickly turned on the ball and clipped a curling ball across the face of goal. Valeri’s ball found a surging run into the center of the box from Mora, and the Timbers forward threw himself toward the ball, making solid contact and sending a powerful header on goal that Pablo Sisniega was forced to parry away.
Two minutes later the Timbers came even closer. A ball over the LA backline from Yimmi Chará dropped into Mora’s path and the Chilean controlled the ball with his head and pressed forward. With a defender pulling at his shirt, Mora stayed on his feet in the LAFC box and managed to get a shot off, but Sisniega, given time by the foul on Mora, was able to rush off his line and make the save.
Valeri managed a final first-half chance for the Timbers in the 43rd minute when he received the ball in space outside the LA box. Striding on to the ball, Valeri hammered a dipping shot on goal, but Sisniega was able to make a diving save to push the ball away.
The Timbers kept the momentum going into the second half and, just two minutes in, they found the opener. The chance started with a darting run toward the box from Chará, who checked his run and hit a square ball to Mora. Receiving the ball at the top of the box, Mora turned and continued its progress, finding Jeremy Ebobisse arriving on the right. Ebobisse took the ball in, touched it forward, and smashed a low shot on goal that Sisniega was able to get a touch on, but could not keep from splashing into the back of the net.
Now trailing, LAFC caught their breath and looked to fight their way back into the match.
Putting the Timbers on the back foot, LA got their first real chance to pull the match even in the 60th minute. After Mohamed El-Munir got around Jorge Villafaña on a driving run to the end line, the LA fullback cut a low ball back into the box for the run of Danny Musovski. As Musovski met the ball in the center of the Timbers box, he hit it first time, sending a shot through traffic that forced Clark to get low in order to parry the ball away. The rebound fell to winger Kwadwo Opoku, but the Ghanaian teen could not steer it on goal.
The Timbers came close to extending their lead in the 84th minute. With Eryk Williamson carrying the ball toward the LA box, Chará made a cutting run toward goal. Williamson saw Chará go and slipped a perfectly weighted pass into his path. Bringing the ball in with a defender hanging off his back, Chará got off a quick shot from close range, but Sisniega was able to get down and make the stop.
Sisniega’s saves would turn out to be the difference between three points and just one for the Timbers, as LAFC were able to find a stoppage-time equalizer in the 93rd minute. After a giveaway from the Timbers in the center of the pitch, Eddie Segura got on the ball in an advanced position and played a quick pass toward Opoku at the top of the box. Opoku spun on the ball, giving it a touch forward in the process and putting it into the path of Christian Torres. Running onto the ball and in on goal, Torres was able to finish one on one with Clark and draw the sides even at the last possible second.
The Portland Timbers may have come into Wednesday night’s match at Rio Tinto Stadium riding a five-game winning streak, but after ninety minutes that streak was broken. Despite a late fightback, the Timbers were unable to overcome conceding a pair of goals in the first half as they lost 2-1 to Real Salt Lake.
The Portland Timbers grabbed their fifth win in a row on Sunday night, taking down the San Jose Earthquakes 3-0 at Providence Park. Snapping the Quakes’ three-game winning streak was enough for the Timbers to maintain control of second place in the West and move even on points with the Seattle Sounders once again—after their Cascadian rivals stumbled against LAFC earlier in the night.
After an unexpectedly long break, the Portland Timbers were back in action on Wednesday night and were clearly determined to make up for lost time against the LA Galaxy. Despite a Galaxy side who were up for a fight, the Timbers went off, beating LA 6-3 on the road.