Rose City Review
The Portland Timbers travelled north on Sunday night to take on the Seattle Sounders at CenturyLink Field, their first match played away from the confines of Providence Park since returning from the MLS is Back Tournament. Coming off a three-game winless streak, the Timbers needed a result to break out of their post-tournament funk and they got one, beating the Sounders 2-1 in a performance that looked like a return to the form that carried them through the knockout rounds in Orlando.
If you were to judge the Portland Timbers’ game against the Los Angeles Galaxy on off-the-field storylines, then Wednesday night was a good one for the team in green and gold.
Diego Valeri again etched his name into the MLS history book, becoming just the third player in league history to score at least 80 goals and contribute 80 assists when he put the ball past David Bingham in second half stoppage time.
Goalkeeper Jeff Attinella made his long-awaited return after recovering from shoulder surgery — and he got to do it at Providence Park.
Head coach, Giovanni Savarese, played a heavily rotated lineup for the midweek game, giving younger players the opportunity to play MLS minutes.
But once you pivot to on-the-field performance, it’s the same old story for the Timbers.
The defense—one that has given up ten goals in just three games since the MLS regular season restart—looked shaky at the best of times. A Galaxy team that the had Timbers comfortably dispatched in Orlando presented plenty of new issues, even sans-Chicharito. Cristian Pavón ran rampant down the left wing and was a handful for the Timbers’ young outside backs.
By the time the final whistle blew, the scoreline read: Galaxy 3, Timbers 2. Portland is now just 1-3-1 at Providence Park this season, and it doesn’t get easier from here as they travel to Seattle for a rematch against the Sounders on Sunday.
It wasn’t long after Portland released their starting lineup that fans started to take notice of the different names: Valeri, Eryk Williamson, Sebastián Blanco, and Diego Chará started on the bench in favor of Renzo Zambrano, Tomás Conechny, Pablo Bonilla, and Marco Farfan.
The logic behind the decision was sound. With an important game approaching in a matter of days, Savarese wants his team to be well rested. Additionally, this gave younger players the opportunity to earn more playing time.
It was easy to tell early on that last night’s starting XI was a lineup that hadn’t played together very often. The Galaxy midfield dominated much of the early game, and their press often forced the young defenders to play more direct out of the back. While the Timbers eventually grew into the game, there were still shaky moments in the first half.
“I think the team in the first half created some good chances,” Valeri said. “Obviously you need more minutes to understand each other, but even in the defense and the attack, the team had the game there in the second half.”
Zambrano started alongside Cristhian Paredes in defensive midfield and showcased both the good and the bad. There were times where he looked rushed in midfield and turned the ball over, but there were also moments (as shown below) where he won the ball back at the top of the Timbers’ box.
Conechny had a few solid moments, but was mostly anonymous on the right wing, while Pablo Bonilla completed just 38-percent of his passes in the first half and was caught out of position on defense a few times.
Nonetheless, each player showed flashes of their potential against the Galaxy and grew into the game as the first half wore on.
“The young guys that came in did a very good job, the majority of them,” Savarese said.” “Some definitely showed some moments where they can do some things a little better, but overall a very good performance, and I have to say that I am proud of the way the guys came in and used their minutes.”
“Just to give that first group a shoutout, I thought that they played very well,” Attinella added. “It’s a group that not a lot of people know the names of outside of our organization recognize, but it is a group that puts in a lot of work, and this is an opportunity for all of us that were on the field tonight to get rewarded for that.”
Another player that benefited from the rotated lineup was Marvin Loria.
Often played on the wing where he can cut in and fire a shot at the top of the box, Loria took on more of a deeper midfield role against the Galaxy.
Whenever he plays out wide, there are moments in which it looks like Loria is less involved in the game; however, the deeper role allowed the Costa Rican to control the game’s tempo at times. Instead of relying on an outlet from a teammate, he constantly picked up the ball near the top of his own box and dribbled it into the attacking third.
“He tried to find those [open] spaces because of the pressure of the LA Galaxy,” Savarese said. “We had Loria sometimes coming into the middle to try and find the ball there, but also in some moments—as we told him in the second half—he needed to make the runs in behind the fullback to find more of the space going forward.”
On defense, Loria seemed to be everywhere. There were moments where he helped Bonilla deal with Pavón on the left flank, but also times where he helped his front line out with pressing. Below is an example of him defending in the deep corner of the field:
As the night went on, the Timbers looked for Loria to make a specific movement to help the team open up the game, and as the game progressed he was able to find different ways to use his movement to exploit the Galaxy defense.
“In the first half, he couldn’t find that space inside that we wanted him to find,” Savarese said. “Nevertheless, he had a good performance and had very good moments.”
As the veterans began to trickle into the game, it was easy to sense their immediate impact. When Blanco, Williamson, and Jeremy Ebobisse came in, the Timbers started to play with a greater sense of ease.
Inserting Williamson into the midfield helped Portland regain control of the middle of the field. There’s something about watching him ping a perfect ball across the field to switch play that almost feels natural.
When Yimmi Chará checked in later, he quickly found the back of the net, but it was called offside. Ebobisse scored late in the second half, but that was (more controversially) waived back as well. Valeri came on late in the game with fresh legs and found a goal in stoppage time.
Savarese had a wealth of options available to him as the second half wore on, and while it didn’t win him the game, it did show just how much talent the Timbers have in their starters.
I usually try to keep these day-after articles to three main points, but it was nice to see Attinella back on the field again tonight.
After enduring months of rehab for a shoulder surgery, Attinella was finally cleared to return to full activity the day that MLS shut down due to COVID-19.
On Wednesday night, he was tested early and often, whether it be clawing a shot out of the net or punching a corner away. With his wife, daughter, and infant son on hand at Providence Park to witness his first game back, Attinella called it one of the best moments of his career.
Regardless of what happens in the future, Attinella said that he will be ready whenever he is called upon.
“I mean, I’ve learned with Gio—and this is my third season now—that he manages every game differently,” Attinella said. “And I know that if you’re putting the work in and you know what you are doing, you have the chance to get your number called.”
For the first time since Orlando, the Timbers will play a game on the road. Just two weeks after losing to the Sounders at home, they will travel to CenturyLink Field to try and exact revenge on their Cascadia rivals.
Portland is showing something new in every game, but there is still plenty that needs tweaking if they want to snap out of this cold spell. Maybe a quick change of scenery is all that they need.
“I will say that the positive side of this game was the reaction of the team,” Valeri said. We almost got a point, and that’s it. We have to move forward, scout the game a little better, and prepare for the next game in Seattle.”
For the third match in a row, the Portland Timbers played in an empty Providence Park, and for the third match in a row the Timbers gave up at least three goals, losing 3-2 to the LA Galaxy.
On a scary and chaotic Saturday night in Portland, with far-right demonstrators terrorizing the city, the Portland Timbers played a soccer game.
Someone was shot to death in downtown Portland while the game was being played.
It was horrifying and absolutely everyone saw it coming.
I still wrote about what happened in the game, because I didn’t know what else to do. You can find that below.
It was an exciting, disappointing game that ended 4–4 among feelings of worry and numbness at the violence being carried out on the streets of Portland.
From the opening whistle, the Timbers pressed RSL high up the pitch. Nipping at the heels of Real, the Timbers saw immediate results, turning over RSL multiple times in the attacking end in the first five minutes of the match.
That high pressure paid off in the seventh minute when the Timbers opened the scoring after a turnover in the RSL box. As the visitors tried to play the ball short off a goal kick, the Timbers swarmed them. After three short passes between keeper Andrew Putna and his defenders failed to get the ball clear, it was Diego Chara who snuck past midfielder Pablo Ruiz and was clear in on goal. Putna charged forward, but Chara took a quick touch around him and calmly rolled the ball into the now-open net.
The goal served as a clear wake-up call for the visitor as RSL worked the ball forward into the Timbers’ end and refused to leave, sending ball after ball into the Timbers box and foiling their attempts to break out.
A handful of chances later RSL found their equalizer. Off a free kick in the attacking end, RSL sent a ball into the Timbers box that found Nedum Onuoha at the back post. The Real center back sent a headed ball back across the face of goal where it was knocked down in front of winger Corey Baird. With the Timbers defense still scrambling, Baird only had to slot it home from close range to even up the score at 1–1 in the 19th minute.
The Timbers answered immediately. Just two minutes later, the Timbers took the ball down the pitch and won a corner kick. Diego Valeri served a curling ball into the box off the restart, finding the head of Jaroslaw Niezgoda as he separated from his marker and made solid contact. Niezgoda’s header flew toward goal and skipped off the head of RSL midfielder Maikel Chang, taking it over the diving form of Putna and into the goal to restore the Timbers lead.
With the Timbers back in front, the game settled into a more familiar pattern: the Timbers sat back, presenting a strong defensive block, and dared RSL to come at them. RSL obliged, but were unable to assert themselves in the same way as they did after the first Timbers goal, leaving openings for the Timbers to break out and counter.
Shortly after the half, RSL equalized again. Off a corner kick in the 48th minute, Chang flicked the ball on, sending it arching up into the air and dropping at the back post where Damir Kreilach was alone in space. As the ball fell in front of him, Kreilach took its measure and struck it on the volley, giving Steve Clark no chance at the save as he finished from close range.
After a back and forth battle through most of the second half, Sebastian Blanco stepped up with a moment of magic to retake the lead. In the 70th minute, Chara won the ball in the Timbers half then immediately looked upfield and picked out Blanco on the right with a pass into space. Carrying the ball forward, Blanco drove toward the RSL box, cut toward the center of the pitch, and hit a curling shot on goal. Despite a heroic dive from Putna, Blanco’s ball was placed perfectly and nestled into the back of the net, giving the Timbers a 3–2 lead.
In the 85th minute, the Timbers got their insurance goal. Moments after a shot from Onuoha pinged off the Timbers’ post and was snatched off the goal line by Clark, the Timbers broke down the pitch. A throw from Clark found Blanco with enough space to look up and pick out a bursting run from Felipe Mora through the center of the pitch and into the attacking end. As Mora continued his run, Blanco hit a perfectly placed pass forward that skipped just out of reach of a defender and found its intended recipient. Mora collected the ball on the run, hesitated inside the box, and coolly finished past Putna.
The insurance goal, it turned out, was not enough to secure all three points for the Timbers as RSL stormed forward and the Timbers wilted under pressure.
First, in the 90th minute, the visitors found Gioseppi Rossie in the box with his back to goal. The RSL sub took a smooth touch to settle the ball, turned, and—the Timbers defense scrambling to recover—slotted a close-in shot past Clark.
Then, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Baird took off on a juking run through the Timbers defense, dribbling around a pair of defenders before touching a short pass forward to the feet of Sam Johnson. Once again the RSL player was able to turn and shoot from point-blank range and once again Clark had no chance at the save as RSL pulled even in the final seconds of the match.
The Portland Timbers were supposed to play today, but they did something much more powerful instead.
It’s been a big day in American sports: earlier this afternoon, the Milwaukee Bucks decided they would not play their scheduled playoff game against the Orlando Magic, in protest of the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Sunday.
“The past four months have shed a light on the ongoing racial injustices facing our African-American community,” said Bucks guard Sterling Brown, reading a statement written by the team. “Citizens around the country have used their voices and platforms to speak out against these wrongdoings. Over the last few days in our home state of Wisconsin, we have seen the horrendous video of Jacob Blake being shot in the back seven times by a police officer in Kenosha, and the additional shooting of protesters. Despite the overwhelming plea for change, there has been no action, so our focus today cannot be on basketball.”
Later, the Lakers and Trailblazers joined them in striking, as did the Milwaukee Brewers and all six WNBA teams slated to play today.
Although the first MLS game of the night, between Orlando and Nashville, went on as planned, the other MLS teams scheduled to play tonight—including the Timbers—soon announced they, too, would refuse to play.
Today—four years to the day after Colin Kaepernick first knelt for the national anthem—Black athletes once again used their platforms to center violence against Black communities by police officers and white supremacists. Teams, leagues, and sponsors have been making statements saying they support the Black Lives Matter movement since June, but have done little—if anything—to back those words up with meaningful actions. These athletes are seizing control of their platform and refusing to continue entertaining people while people who look like them are murdered with impunity.
Don’t let this moment slip by. As we’ve seen all summer, athletes can bring attention to pressing social issues, but ultimately, dismantling white supremacy is our responsibility. As Jeremy Ebobisse wrote on Twitter today, “Empty, token mea culpas are a significant part of the problem.”
https://twitter.com/kingjebo/status/1298706984242278400?s=20
Financial donations, if you can afford it, are one way to help. Jacob Blake’s family has a fundraiser here. The Milwaukee Freedom Fund, which supports protesters in Wisconsin, also accepts donations. But ultimately, we need to push for drastic policy changes. Portland mayor Ted Wheeler and the City Council can all be reached here; drop them a line and tell them you demand meaningful action on police reform.
If you’re in Oregon and you’re not registered to vote, you can do that here. There’s a mayoral run-off election this November.
Last night the Portland Timbers returned to Providence Park for their first match since winning the MLS is Back Tournament and things did not go well. After a scoreless first half the Timbers were torn apart by the visiting Seattle Sounders in the second, falling 3-0 after losing their composure and coming fully apart late in the match.
After more than a month away from home the Portland Timbers have emerged from the MLS is Back Tournament undefeated, taking down Orlando City SC 2-1 in the tournament final and booking their spot in the 2021 CONCACAF Champions League.
The Portland Timbers are going to the MLS is Back Tournament Final after taking down the Philadelphia Union 2-1 in a battle of the set-pieces.
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