It looked like the Timbers were well on their way to a 1-0 win over a bunkered in FC Cincinnati side Tuesday evening when, out of nowhere, goalkeeper Steve Clark made things interesting…
A Timbers goal. A Cincinnati goal. Penalties. A season’s worth of stress packed into the final ten minutes of the game. Timbers advance.
After an opening half that saw the Timbers complete 93% of their passes while probing for openings in the low and immovable defensive block of FC Cincinnati and finding none at all, the match finally began to come to life fifteen minutes into the second half.
First Cincinnati thought they had found the opener when a free-kick into the Timbers box found Mathieu Deplagne lurking at the back post where the defender beat Jorge Villafana to the ball and knocked it past Clark for what looked like an opener. It was not to be, however, as replays showed that Deplagne was a half-step offside and the play was judged offside by referee Armando Villareal with help from the VAR booth.
Then the Timbers found their opening. Perhaps Cincinnati were rattled by the called off goal, or overeager to make up for the offside call, but in the 67th minute, the Timbers were finally able to find the opening that had eluded them in the first half. After getting Sebastian Blanco free on the left wing, the Argentine playmaker hit a low cross that skimmed across the pitch before connecting with Jaroslaw Niezgoda inside the six-yard box. Niezgoda stopped the ball with his left foot, popping it up into the air, then lashed out with his right to hit the ball home from point-blank range.
After two-thirds of the match passing with forays forward from Cincinnati a real rarity, the single goal for the Timbers seemed like all they should need to advance. In the 81st minute, though, everything went sideways.
A long ball over the top from Cincinnati fell neatly to Clark with Allan Cruz chasing it down. In a moment of madness, rather than picking the ball up with his hands, Clark controlled it with his feet. That mistake in judgment was all it took for Cruz to turn on the jets and close the distance with the Timbers keeper. Seeing Cruz closing him down, Clark dove for the ball but got Cruz instead, taking him down and prompting Villareal to point immediately to the penalty spot.
There was no arguing with the call and Cincinnati designated player Jürgen Locadia stepped up to the spot and coolly picked out the inside of the post, beating Clark to tie the game up at one apiece despite Clark diving the right way.
In the final minutes of the match, the Timbers looked shaken. Clark let a simple-looking save bounce off his hands and then hit the post of his goal, then the Timbers defense failed to track Locadia on a back-post run but the DP missed a tap-in finish that could have sewn up the game for Cincinnati, and finally, Villareal blew the whistle to end regular time and take the match to penalties.
- Siem de Jong stepped up first, sending Clark the wrong way and finishing well. 1-0 to Cincinnati.
- Diego Valeri goes first for Portland, putting his shot straight down the middle and in the back of the net as Przemyslaw Tyton dives to the side. 1-1.
- Allan Cruz again torments Clark, sending him the wrong way as he finishes his penalty. 2-1.
- Felipe Mora, playing his first minute of the tournament, makes no mistake as he slams home his penalty kick. 2-2.
- Locadia steps up again, but this time Clark is his equal. The DP goes right and Clark reads hit shot, saving it easily. 2-2.
- Blanco places his shot perfectly, beating Tyton by barely tucking the ball inside the bar, inches from the fingertips of the Cincinnati keeper. 2-3 to the Timbers.
- Old Timbers foe Kendall Waston steps up to the spot and blasts the ball to the freaking moon, sending his kick well over the bar and giving the Timbers a chance to close out the penalties. 2-3.
- Niezgoda, the goalscorer, has his second chance to win the game for the Timbers and, just as he did in the 67th minute, he seizes the opportunity. Sending Tyton to his right, Niezgoda shoots to his left. 2-4. Timbers win.
The win means that the Timbers will face New York City FC in the Semifinal Round of the MLS is Back Tournament this Saturday, August 1st.