To round out their third game in eight days, the Portland Timbers faced off against Nashville SC Sunday at Providence Park. The match was one of the most complete performances Portland has put together all season, and they continue to rise in the table.
Unfortunately, both head coach Phil Neville and Evander were suspended for this match. Dave Van den Bergh and Eryk Williamson took Neville’s and Evander’s places, respectively.
The city of Portland is in the midst of a heat wave. The kickoff for the game was 98 degrees. Luckily, there was absolutely no sun on the pitch.
In the early going, neither team could muster much going forward. They were feeling each other out and trying to find the game.
However, the flood gates opened right after that for the Timbers.
In the 18th minute, Jonathan Rodríguez stole the ball near midfield and proceeded to drive to the top of the box. He slipped a ball into Felipe Mora, who calmly finished for his tenth goal of the season.
In the 21st minute, the team executed a perfect counter. Juan David Mosquera initiated it with a dribble and a great ball out wide to Williamson. Williamson returned the ball to Mosquera, who “passed” it to a wide open Rodríguez for an easy finish.
Minutes later, the Portland Timbers won a spell of possession. Santiago Moreno served the ball from midfield out wide to Rodríguez, who calmly took a few dribbles and smashed it far post past Nashville’s Joe Willis.
In the 29th minute, Williamson made it 4-0 off a perfect, low-driven cross from Moreno. This marked his second goal of the season and first since the season opener.
After that, the cooling break took effect, and Nashville SC interim head coach Rumba Munthali had a chance to get after his team for their abysmal showing in the first half.
Unfortunately, that didn’t cool them off one bit and only made it worse. After a VAR check, in the 35th minute, Brian Anunga’s yellow card was upgraded to a red card after video showed Anunga’s studs going into the back of David Ayala’s leg. The visitors were down four goals and had to play with 10 men for the rest of the game.
In stoppage time, Forster Ajago’s goal was called offside.
In the next Portland possession, Rodríguez was taken down in the box. The official called it right way, but reversed it after going back to VAR.
The first half demonstrated the prolific attack Portland possesses and how dangerous this team is when they are allowed to play on their own terms.
In the second half, the Timbers were on cruise control.
With Rodríguez on hat trick watch, the team did everything they could to feed him the ball.
In the 82nd minute, Nashville’s Sam Surridge found a tap-in goal after the Timbers could not stop their opponent’s initial through ball or the following low-driven cross. They gave up the clean sheet on a very well-worked goal. It was Portland’s only blemish on a beautiful evening of football.
“A bit of a hiccup, obviously, last Thursday, so we wanted to have a bounce back,” said Van den Bergh. “And I think this was a good game for that, so very happy with the three points. On the other side of things, a little disappointed we couldn’t keep a clean sheet that would have been really big for James [Pantemis], for our defenders, but at the end of the day, when you’re facing Nashville at home, and you tell me in advance that we’re going to win 4-1, I would have signed a dotted line. So, all in all, a good win. I would have liked to have scored a couple more goals in the second half, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. But all in all, was a good performance by our guys.”
Eryk
With Evander out, Van den Bergh opted for Williamson in that role.
In the first half, he tallied his second goal of the season.
Once Antony was subbed on in the second half, Williamson moved back to a double pivot with Diego Chará to help preserve the win.
However, after Moreno came off, Williamson moved back to the No. 10.
His versatility, dynamism, and creativity makes him extremely valuable to have on this team. Even though MVP candidate Evander and rising star David Ayala, are ahead of him on the team’s depth chart, there is still a role for Williamson.
“Eryk Williamson showed why he is a very, very good player for us and why we have him on the roster” said Van den Bergh. “I mean, he was outstanding tonight, not just his goal, but overall, I don’t think he lost three balls tonight […] He’s been good in practice, and he deserved his chance.”
History
For the first time since 2022, an MLS club has had three different players to score at least 10 goals or more: Rodríguez, Mora, and Evander.
The three designated players have been money all year and show no signs of slowing down.
“You can see we got along so well, and we try a lot to have fun while we’re playing” said Mora. “And I think we’re enjoying playing alongside each other.”
“Extremely happy with the fact that we have three players on 10 goals,” said Van den Bergh. “I found out that it’s the first time in Timbers history, which is pretty wild. Very happy for those three. They’ve been putting in the work since the day I got here.”
Hat trick watch
Never in the history of the Portland Timbers has a player scored a hat trick. Rodríguez was the latest one burned by the team’s curse.
Rodríguez had a brace in a matter of minutes, and had the rest of the game to make club history. He drew a penalty late in first half stoppage time, but for some reason VAR overturned the call. Although the initial ruling was a tad soft, reversing the decision still doesn’t make much sense. After that, the team tried to find Rodríguez every time they got down in the attacking third, but it was not meant to be.
The wait continues…
Photo of the night
