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.