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.
From the start, Wednesday night’s match was a mess. A heavily rotated Timbers side looked to hit out on the break, while the Rapids enjoyed a heavy possession advantage and tried to connect passes in and around the Timbers box.
While there were counter-attacking chances to be had for the Timbers, it was the Rapids who came closest to opening the scoring in the first half, managing a number of opportunities that were narrowly off target. Most notable was a cross to Andre Shinyashiki at the top of the Timbers box that the Colorado forward hit on the volley, sending a dipping shot barely over the bar in the 12th minute.
The Rapids thought they would have an even better chance in the 15th minute when a ball into the box ricocheted off the boot of Bill Tuiloma and hit the defender’s swinging arm. Referee Joseph Dickerson immediately blew his whistle, pointing to the spot, but just as quickly was summoned to the VAR monitor to review the decision. After several moments of watching the ball hit Tuiloma’s foot then arm, Dickerson waved the call off.
The match was transformed in the second half as the Timbers brought on Yimmi Chará at the break and Diego Valeri ten minutes later. Where the Timbers had been struggling to string together passes, introducing the two playmakers immediately put the Timbers in a much more controlling position in the match.
In the 75th minute, the Timbers came close to breaking the deadlock, and Valeri was at the heart of it. Receiving the ball from Dario Župarić at the top of the Rapids box, Valeri turned and cut central before clipping a back-heeled pass into the path of Jorge Villafaña, cutting in from the left. As the ball bounced in front of him, Villafaña hit it first-time with the outside of his boot, sending a curling ball flashing just wide of the near post.
Despite the Timbers looking more likely to score, it was the Rapids who finally got the go-ahead goal in the 82nd minute of the match. After a series of misplaced passes from the Timbers left Colorado with the ball in the attacking third, Diego Rubio was able to slip a pass forward to Kellyn Acosta as Acosta broke into the Timbers’ box. Taking a touch into space, Acosta hit a placed shot past Clark and into the back of the Timbers’ net.
Despite looking thoroughly shaken by giving up the goal, the Timbers managed to nearly tie the match up in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time. After a ball into the center of the box from Villafaña was knocked down and left spinning on the pitch, it was Dairon Asprilla, making his first appearance since undergoing knee surgery back in May, who got to it first. Lunging forward, Asprilla poked the ball toward goal, but his shot clanged off the woodwork and out in the final action of the match.